The Unexpected
by Answerthecall
Summary: A young homeless boy, witness to a rape and murder causes Steve McGarrett to explore a side to his personality never seen before: His fatherly side. Leading to a question none of Five-0 could have expected. Is Steve cut out to be a parent? COMPLETE.
1. A Call For Help

Disclaimer: Okay, first things first, I don't own anything related to the actual show. The only thing I own are both of my OCs. Want to borrow them for anything? Just ask!

Canon/Semi-Canon Pairings Featured: StevexCatherine (Though she may not appear, they are DEFINITELY together in this), Mentions of former McWeston attraction (Thought they are not/were not together), Mentions of FORMER DannyxRachel. DannyxGabrielle.  
>Non-Cannon Pairings Features: HINTS of DannyxKono, not sure if it'll extend beyond hints or not though<p>

...

**CHAPTER 1  
>A Call For Help<strong>

For Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett, the homeless district of Oahu was probably the most depressing place on the entire island. Yet, every daily run he had to pass through it, and every daily run he couldn't help but feel nothing but sympathy for everyone that he passed by. That morning, however, fate seemed to be playing some sort of joke on him, some sort of bizarre twist of fate caused him to run into the homeless person, and knock the cup of money out of his hands, knocking it into the manhole. Fate's odd way of bringing him and the homeless kid together, he'd say later on.

"Oh whoa, whoa. I'm so sorry!" Steve immediately shouted, crouching down, hoping to grab a few dollars before it disappeared, failing miserably "Crap." He muttered, he stood up slowly, and turned his head towards the man he had nearly knocked over "Look how much do I owe you?" He asked, quickly.

It was only then that Steve noticed that what he'd just run into was not a homeless man, but street kid. The boy couldn't have been a day over thirteen, with a mop of brown hair, he didn't look like he'd showered in about a week. He was short, lanky, with blue eyes, and a facial structure that made him look even younger than thirteen, more like about ten. The tan from spending long hours outside almost masked the fact he was caucasian, almost. Clearly, the boy spent all morning and afternoon in the sun if that were the truth.

"Don't worry about it." The boy muttered, sighing a bit "It was barely five dollars anyway." He shrugged his shoulders.

The boy started to move past him, and Steve was half tempted to let him go. But one look at the unnervingly thin body the boy had and he couldn't let that happen. "At least let me buy you breakfast, then." The boy stopped, and turned toward Steve calmly "Come on, I'm not about to let a broke street kid walk away like that. Not as a cop." He explained.

"A cop? What game are you playing?" The boy tensed up.

Steve sighed, of course, it was always a "game" when a cop tried to be nice. He'd learned this a few times, but he still wasn't used to that, he was still learning how the kids from the lower class areas saw cops individually. "Look, there's no game. Come with me, or not. I don't care, I just honestly feel bad. You look like you haven't eaten for a while." As if to make a point, the boy's stomach growled "But think fast, kid, I have work in two hours." He added.

The boy seemed to eye Steve for a long, hard moment. It wasn't easy to trust a cop, not when you were on the streets. Most of the time, they wanted something out of you, a confession, information. But he was hungry, very hungry, and this was a cop offering him free food. He wasn't dressed in a uniform either, so maybe, just maybe, he was being honest. "Alright, alright... If it will make you feel better." The boy nodded as he stepped forward, stopping beside him "Can I get a name though?" He asked.

"Steve, Steve McGarrett."

Steve reached his hand out for a handshake. For a moment, the boy hesitated but accepted the handshake. "Ben, Ben Davenport." The boy, now known as Ben, smiled slightly "Just so you know, if you try anything funny. Or are some lying pedo." He paused for a moment "I do know tae kwon do." He added.

Steve absent-mindidly rolled his eyes quietly, of course he did, they all did. But even if he did, he wasn't about to even ask how the boy expected to fight a man twice his size.

...

Steve had no doubt he had been right about Ben not eating in at least a week. But at the rate he was devouring the plate of food set in front of him, he was starting to think it had been two, maybe even three. He'd gone through the endless pancakes, three plates of bacon, and two eggs at iHop like they were going out of style or something. By the time he was done, Ben looked like he was satisfied for the first time in a long time, and that was without a doubt true. "Have I thanked you yet?" He asked calmly.

"Eight times." Steve smiled a bit, he shook his head "Really, it's nothing. I owed you for knocking over that money." He added.

"I couldn't buy half this meal with that money. I feel kind of bad." Ben admitted, shaking his head slightly "I don't like taking charity, but I haven't eaten in a while. If that wasn't already obvious." He looked at Steve, as if slowly trusting him more "So, you're a cop?" Steve gave a shrug but nodded "Interesting, you don't really scream cop to me, more like Military." He admitted.

"Close, Navy SEALs. Though I now work for a special TYPE of police. " Steve replied "Ever heard of Five-0?" He asked.

"Ah, yeah, I've heard of you guys." Ben nodded, he shrugged a bit "I hear you guys are a bunch of hard asses." Steve nearly spat out his milk as he chuckled "What it wasn't that funny. I really have heard that." The teen shrugged his shoulders a bit "I knew your name sounded familiar, you head Five-0, right?" Again a nod "Jeez, you scared the CRAP out of my friend earlier in the week. Billy Cranston?" He told him.

"He's not the type of company you want to keep." Steve stated "Enough about me though, tell me. How did you end up on the streets?"

Of course, there it was, the question, everybody who helped him out asked it. Ben sighed, he leaned forward, crossed his arms on the table, and stared Steve in the eyes. "Pretty simple, really. Parents and I go on vacation here. Mom and Dad get in a cab, cab gets hit by a bus, and well... I wasn't exactly willing to go into Foster Care in a city I didn't know." He shrugged his shoulders "So I'd really appreciate it if you didn't turn me in." He added.

Steve knew he probably should have brought him in after finding out he was a system runaway. But then again, he was off-duty at the moment, and he did owe the kid in a way still. "Alright, I won't turn you in, and we'll call us even." Steve sighed, Ben smiled a bit "And as long as you do me a favor." He added.

"Oh great, here it comes." Ben muttered under his breath.

However, he watched as Steve calmly pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, as well as a pen. He scribbled something down calmly, and slid the paper over to Ben. "That's my phone number. I like you kid, so, if you're ever in trouble. Give me a call." Steve nodded his head as he stood up slowly "I'll even take you out to breakfast again, sometime, if you'd like." He added.

Ben smiled, he'd had a lot of people try to help him before. But Steve seemed to be genuinely trying to be a friend to him. He stood up himself and nodded his head. "I'd like that." Ben told him calmly, heading out of the restaurant "Hopefully, I won't actually need you though." He laughed.

As Steve watched him go, he could only hope that the young man's words would prove true.

...

Steve hated waking up to his phone ringing, it was one of his least favorite things in the world. Yet, it happened all too often. Tilting his head over, he grabbed the cell phone that rested on his nightstand calmly, the number was unknown. Immediately Steve thought of Ben, but wrote it off. He couldn't be calling him at this time of night, where would he even find spare change. Answering calmly, he yawned. "McGarrett." He muttered, half asleep.

"S-Steve?" Sure enough there was Ben's voice.

Steve was immediately alert, the tone to Ben's voice had been filled with fear. And in his line of work, he had come to learn that a scared kid never meant anything good. "Ben? What's going on? It's midnight bud." He muttered.

"Steve, I didn't know who else to go to." Ben's voice was shaky, cracking a bit "I-I just saw someone get shot, and I... I didn't know who else to turn to." Steve was completely alert now, and on his feet at that "I know I should have called 9-1-1, but I didn't know if he was still following me or not and..." His voice broke again.

Steve made sure to grab his gun and badge almost at once. Pulling on a fresh t-shirt he kept the phone to his ear. "Ben, Ben, relax, okay buddy? I want you to stay somewhere safe, as populated as you can find." Steve tried to calm the young boy down, then it hit him quickly "Hey, do you remember that iHop from this morning?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah, I think so."

"Good, I want you to meet me there, run if you have to." Steve told him flatly, knowing that Ben was terrified, and he didn't blame him "Nothing bad is going to happen to you, alright? I'm already headed out the door." He explained "Just get to that iHop." He repeated.

He hang up the phone slowly, taking a deep breath. Why in the world couldn't he catch a break? Just one time, he'd have liked to get a break from the drama and murder, just once. Taking a deep breath, he quickly dialed Danny's number as he rushed out the front door. He'd kill him, but if there was a kid in the line of danger, he wouldn't care.

...

A/N: This is my first attempt at a story like this in a WHILE. Crime isn't normally my genre, but I'm hoping that this was a good start. I have Chapter 2 and 3 already written. But I want to make sure that this is good enough to continue. What do you guys think?


	2. New Houseguest

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and pointed out my mistake about the Navy thing. God, how ironic is it that I did that last time I did a 5-0 story over a year ago (long since taken off the site)? Lulz I guess it's true what they say, history repeats itself. Anyways that error should be fixed now. Thanks for pointing it out to me so I could fix it guys!

...

**CHAPTER 2  
>New Houseguest <strong>

Steve brought Ben straight to Five-0 Headquarters from the iHop. It was really no surprise that when Ben had finally shown up after ten minutes, he was bruised and battered. But none-the-less, his concern for the boy's safety increased ten fold. He had been soaking wet too, having fallen in a large rain puddle according to him. He and his partner, Danny, had set him on a couch in the office, and carefully wrapped a blanket around the shivering boy. Danny crossed his arms and Steve sat himself down, knowing Ben would trust him.

"Ben, this is my partner, Danny." Steve nodded to Danny calmly, Ben turned his head and nodded at him "He's cool, trust me. He's got a daughter at home, so I'm sure he'll take this easy on you just like I will." He explained, Ben only nodded "Alright, so can you tell us EXACTLY what you saw?" Steve asked.

Ben seemed to hesitate a little, pulling the blanket further over him. That gave one thing away, Steve noted, Ben knew the murderer, maybe not directly, but in some way. "I had just went to sleep in the alleyway that I usually sleep in... When the shelter is full." Ben paused for a moment, he closed his eyes "I got woken up by this loud moaning. I mean, I honestly guessed it was just... You know, sex." He shook his head "It wouldn't be the first time it happened." He added.

"So you're saying that the killer raped her?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, because she started screaming, really loudly. So I ran over to see what was going on." Ben felt tears betray him, rolling down his cheeks slowly "I got there just in time to see him finish it. He took out a gun, and told her to shut up and then... Then he put a bullet in her head." He was quiet, shaking his head lightly "He turned on me and tried to shoot me too. If I wasn't fast enough, I wouldn't be here right now." He muttered.

Danny and Steve exchanged glances, this definitely was NOT a lot to go by, but it was a start. "Alright, did you get a look at the guy's face?" Steve asked, Ben turned to him curiously "You know, did you know him? Even see him around before?" He noticed as Ben tensed up a bit, and carefully took gentle hold of his arm "Ben, it's alright. We're cops, if you do know this guy we can protect you." He noted.

"Yeah, you're in really safe hands kid." Danny told him slowly "But you need to tell us where to find the body, and who the attacker was."

Ben chewed his lower lip quietly, he looked off to the side, and then turned back. "I don't know his name. It was really hard to tell in the dark, because he was wearing a hood. But I'd know him anywhere. There are people even us street kids are told to stay away from." He paused, shook his head a bit, and took a deep breath "He's the number one person we're told to avoid. He usually hangs out in the park, he's got this crazy frizzy hair, he kinda looks like someone out of a Rob Zombie flick." He explained "Hawaiian, about six foot tall." He shook his head.

Danny seemed to take notes as Ben gave he description, nodding his head calmly. "Alright, and about the body?" Danny asked.

"It's like right on the corner of Shell and Briar street. It's the only alley around, so you can't miss it." Ben replied, a lump forming in his throat "I don't know if he moved her thought. When I was running from him, he stopped right in front of the iHop. He wouldn't follow me in. I guess he saw Steve and figured he'd be screwed." He looked between the two of them "I-I don't have to go back there tonight, do I?" He asked quietly.

"No way, you'll come home with me tonight and figure out what to do from there." Steve told him, Danny turned his head, surprised "We aren't going to find anywhere safer tonight, Danny. You get a few cops and get down there, tell Chin what's going on." Danny sighed and nodded "I'll bring Ben to my place, and you can just give me a call and let me know what's going on." He explained.

Ben shifted uncomfortably, he wasn't sure he was entirely comfortable when he heard that. Noticing this, Steve gave a friendly smile, and rubbed his shoulder calmly. "It's okay, Ben, I might not do this normally, but you'll be safer at my home for the night." Steve explained "As long as you didn't commit the crime you have nothing to worry about." He explained.

"I'd think you'd put me in a Foster Home." Ben muttered.

"After a murderer just saw you? No way." Danny replied, Ben stared at him, surprised "Maybe if you just saw the murder take place. But if you're in that level of danger, you go into protective custody." He shook his head "You don't have to worry, kid, you're going to be just fine." He added.

Ben was more than a little surprised by how calm they both were, and trusting. Of course, he had been telling the truth, but he had never expected them to believe him. Most of his experience with cops was that they tended to write almost all street kids off as liars and petty thieves. "Come on kid." Steve helped him off the couch gently "Let's get you out of here, alright?" He asked.

Ben could only wonder if this was going to end up being a trick or not. But for now, he let Steve put an arm around him, and lead him out of the offices, Danny rushing out in a hurry himself. A part of him didn't want to trust Steve, or Danny, but for now, he felt a level of trust with both. That was, for now, he'd see how long that lasted.

...

About an hour and a half later, Ben's soaking wet clothes were in the dryer, and Ben was wearing one of Steve's night shirts. Of course, it was a little embarrassing, but in the end, it was all Steve had to dress him in. Luckily, he had gotten it as a gag gift, and it was extremely long, therefore covering his body down to his ankles. Steve had quickly fixed him some soup and gotten on the phone with Danny almost at once, the most Ben got from the conversation being that they'd found the body, but no weapon.

Ben finished his soup quietly before he laid himself across the couch. He figured not unlike any other time he'd spent in homes, he'd be taking the couch. "I have a guest room, you know." Steve pointed out, Ben lifted his head as Steve entered the room "I was planning to fix the bed up in there for you, tonight." He explained.

"Did they... Find her?" Ben asked quietly.

He knew the answer of course, but he wanted to be sure he'd heard right. He couldn't help but be scared they hadn't and they'd think he was crazy. Steve nodded his head with a small frown as ben slowly sat up. "Yeah, they found her. Your story checks out too." Steve replied, honesty in his voice "Listen, you're going to stay here a few days. Until we at least catch the guy." He explained.

"You don't have to take care of me." Ben told him.

"Oh trust me kid, I wouldn't if I didn't want to. You're already here, so I may as well." Steve replied, Ben got the feeling whoever funded Five-0 had said the same thing "You're okay right? Calmed down a little?" Ben only nodded his head quietly in response "Good, I'm going to go set up the bed in my Guest Bedroom, I'll come get you when it's ready." He then added "Don't even think about running." He added.

Ben sat up slowly as Steve made his way into the hallway, his body growing tense. He had really, _really _hoped that Steve wouldn't be the one to put him in his protective custody. It wasn't that he didn't like Steve, not that at all, in all honesty. He just had a bad feeling that Steve would eventually figure out that he knew more than he was letting on. Heaven help him if he did, as this was the one man who had shown him any kindness. But these cops knew when someone was lying to protect someone, and if they found that man, it would only be a matter of time before they found out there was more than one person there.

He closed his eyes quietly, and cursed to himself, what if they found out the other person. If they asked him, he couldn't lie, not to the cops, he could become in just as much trouble as the person he was trying to protect was in. And heaven knew that his brother would not want that for him. His brother, Ted, wasn't a bad guy, he had been high that night when he tried to hurt him, he told himself. He was a drunk, he was a pothead, but he'd never hurt him, right? He couldn't have been the one who pulled the trigger, he'd been seeing things. The other man had to have.

"Ben?" Ben lifted his head slowly as Steve reappeared "Bed's ready buddy, you should get some sleep." He told him.

Ben slowly got off the couch and made his way over. He had no choice but to be there, and he had to make the most of it. He'd figure out what he would do about his brother later, when he figured out what had happened. Because, he told himself, there was no possible way he'd actually been the one to pull the trigger, no way in hell.


	3. Man With a Mission

A/N: This is probably the last chapter I'm posting today. I have Chapter 4 done, and Chapter 5 in the process of writing. But I'll give people time to read the first three chapters first before I post them up.

A/N #2: Sorry for the delete and repost, I missed a part of this chapter and JUST noticed it. :)

...

**CHAPTER 3  
>Man With A Mission<strong>

Ben slept more soundly and peacefully that night then any night since his parents had died. The bed was soft and comfortable, the blankets adding warmth that his body didn't always get on cold nights like that night. If he was thankful for anything that night, it was that Steve had given him a bed to sleep on, something he really had missed. It was early in the afternoon when the door creaked open, Ben moaned quietly, turning over in his sleep. "Hey Ben, I need you to get up." Ben lifted his head slightly "I have work, and considering you're in my protective custody, I need you to tag along." He explained.

Ben sighed a bit, that wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear. They were not going to make this easy, that was for sure. The first mention of his brother, and he'd have no choice but to tell him, which was the last thing he wanted to happen. "Alright. Are my clothes dry or...?" Steve answered by setting them by the nightstand calmly "Thanks." He muttered quietly.

"Take a shower too." Steve told him, Ben almost took it as an insult, but bit back a retort "People will judge, and I don't want to have to tell off too many people today." He winked at the boy gently, and he quickly realized he was probably telling the truth "I'll meet you downstairs, I have orange juice. Milk. Some cereal and toast. Take your pick." He added as he left the room.

Ben had a strong feeling that Steve was being nice to him because he knew something was up. But regardless of that gut instinct, he wanted to believe that Steve was just a nice guy, as well as a nice guy who genuinely cared. He took a shower for the first time in weeks, and slowly dressed. His clothes were actually nice and clean for a change, something he was more than happy for. Breakfast was a piece of toast and a glass of orange juice before he made his way into the den where Steve was. "That was quick." Steve observed.

"I'm a guest in your house, I didn't want to keep you waiting." Ben explained, he paused for a moment "I'm not really going in for like, questioning, or anything, am I?" He asked, quietly.

Steve looked Ben over, noticing his intensity, and his fear. He had a feeling Ben knew more than he let on, but one of his hopes during their time together was to find out what that was. Ben was too nervous, and too timid not to be hiding something. As much as he believed in Ben's innocence though, something just told him that something was very, very wrong. "No way, Ben. I just have to take you along with me for your safety. I'll probably leave you at HQ under supervision while I go into the field." He explained, Ben nodded his head "Everything okay, kid? You seem really... Scared." He added.

Ben quickly fixed his composure, hoping he'd write it off. "Oh, I'm fine, I'm just tired." Ben lied quietly.

Both of them had a sinking suspicion that this was going to be a _long _week, month, whatever slip of time it would be. Because one could only wonder how long it would be before Ben cracked. Though neither one could have been prepared for what would happen in that span of time. As it was going to change the couse of both of their lives, forever.

...

Steve stepped into the main room of the HQ rather quickly, knowing he was late, but he couldn't help it. Ben was right behind him, but made his way to a seat in the corner of the room. The timid boy didn't say so much as a word to any of them, even as Kono attempted to greet him. Steve had a feeling that the boy really didn't trust the cops all that much. "Alright, so Danny gave me the basics last night, but how much have we learned since then?" Steve asked, getting right to the point.

Chin nodded pressing a button on the pad attached to the table. An image of a young woman with blond hair and green eyes, no older than twenty, appeared on the screen. "Our victim is Crystal Blaze, twenty, an avid homeless rights activist." Chin stated, looking to Steve "She's got no criminal record, no trouble in school, straight-A student. Honor roll all through High School. Dean's List every semester of College." He continued.

"So basically, nothing that would make anyone want her dead?" Steve asked, Chin nodded, he turned his head to Ben, who was staring at the screen "Ben, do you know this girl?" He asked.

Ben stared long and hard at the woman on screen, it took him a few moments, but he finally nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, not that well, but I know her. She'd come and volunteer at my normal shelter a few times a month." Ben stood up, he shook his head "She was the kindest lady, y-you're saying SHE'S the one who died?" He shook his head a little more "God, who would want to kill her?" He asked shakily.

"Apparently the man you saw. We ran your description through our databases."

Chin moved a second picture up on screen, Ben recognized it as the same man almost at once. The one who had raped Crystal, Ben clenched his teeth as he thought that. He didn't just rape her, he had murdered her too, he told himself. His brother would have never pulled the trigger. "David Kahala, forty, he was a big shot businessman until his business went belly-up." He shook his head "His wife left him, and he was left without a penny. Guy's known for causing trouble." He added.

"Was he the man you saw?" Steve asked.

Ben turned to Steve, they locked eyes for a moment, but Ben nodded his head. "Yeah... That's him." Ben replied, he shifted his weight a bit "I've seen him around before, like I said, but I never knew his name. I knew he was a serious creeper, but I just can't even..." He closed his eyes slightly, then turned his head to Chin "They had to have some connection, right?" He asked.

"None that his records show. But don't worry." Chin put his hand on Ben's shoulder comfortingly "We're going to find out."

Ben could only nod his head slowly, and inwardly hope that it wouldn't lead them to his brother. After all, as he convinced himself, his brother wasn't a bad man, he didn't deserve to go to jail, he didn't want him in jail. "Ben?" Ben looked up as Steve stared at him "Is everything okay? Seriously. If you know anything else-"

"I don't." Ben replied, sounding as sure of himself as he possibly could.

Steve knew it was a lie, but he also knew that they weren't going to get it out of him this soon. Ben was scared of something, who or what it was he wasn't sure he was ready to talk about. But he could only hope that after a while in his care he may open up about it. "Alright then, Chin, Danny, you come with me. Hopefully we can find out more on this guy." Steve nodded to David's picture, then turned to Kono "You mind staying with Ben for a while?" He asked.

"Not at all." Kono nodded "Call me if you need me."

The three men left quickly, leaving Kono and Ben alone. Ben noticed the smile on her face, surprisingly, he found it a little reassuring. She really seemed to be the only person of the four who didn't suspect anything was amiss, at least as far as he could tell. "So, Kono was it?" Ben asked, she nodded her head in response "What do you do for fun while waiting?" He asked, hoping she did something other than sit around.

Kono smiled a bit, and shrugged. "Really depends, sometimes I wait around for more info." Ben's face fell, of course, it had to be something boring "But considering I have you to entertain today. I could maybe show you how this works?" She stated, pointing to the table and screen.

Alright, that was more like it, Ben figured. After all, it was rather cool, it reminded Ben of something out of one of those sci-fi novels he used to read. Ben grinned, he nodded his head rather excitedly and made his way forward. "I gotta admit, that is pretty cool, not gonna lie." Ben replied, doing his best to keep his calm nature "Is it as sci-fi ish as it looks?" He asked, curiously.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it." Kono replied.

And for a single, solitary moment, Ben was able to allow himself to forget about the stress regarding his brother. Ben knew he was going to enjoy himself there, all he had to do was keep them convinced that nothing was up. With any luck, no one would suspect anything and he'd get through this without his brother in jail. All he could help was that nothing would go wrong, nothing. He could lie, it wouldn't be hard, and no one would have to know, no one would be hurt, he convinced himself, no one.

...

The screams echoed through the alleyway as the beaten woman crawled along the ground. Her body trembling, a pair of boots stalked toward her, their owner grabbing her by the hair, dragging her back shrieking. "NO! NO! PLEASE GOD! NO!" She screamed.

Then came the gunshot, loud, deafening, and silencing. Ted Davenport tossed the gun aside slowly, staring at the dead body of the woman. He wasn't sick, he told himself, he had done the girl a favor. He'd saved her from the cold, cruel world he'd been exposed to early in life. A pretty girl like that didn't deserve to be destroyed by it like him. Just like the girl that he'd killed after that psycho, David had raped her. He'd done her a favor by killing her. And this girl, that boyfriend of her's had hit her so hard.

He was doing them a favor, he told himself, as he left the scene, he was setting them free. But there was one problem, he noted. He'd been seen, sure it was by his brother, he knew his brother wouldn't tell. But he'd gone to that iHop, he'd SEEN him with those cops. Clenching the trigger of his gun slightly, his brother had to die, he told himself. If he let those cops know that he'd pull the trigger, his whole mission, everything he worked for, would be for nothing.

He hated to think of it, but he had to find those cops, he had to find Ben. And most of all, he had to silence his brother, for good.

...

A/N: Hope you guys have enjoyed the first three chapters of this. Thanks to everyone that's reviewed, favorited, and alerted this so far guys. Definitely keeps me going. :)


	4. Oddities and Attachments

****A/N: Alright, it's been a day, and quite frankly, I loved writing this chapter too much not to post it. Haha. I have two more chapters almost done, but they'll be coming much later today. :)

...

**CHAPTER 4  
>Oddities and Attachments <strong>

Steve shook his head as he crossed his arms. Another dead woman, this was exactly what he wanted to avoid. Another alley, another dead girl, another headshot kill. Danny stared over at Steve, who bit his lip slightly. "This is too weird." Danny noted, Steve turned his head to him "Two girls, one day, same MO. Doesn't that strike you as odd?" He added.

"No, what I find odd... Is that there are no signs of RAPE on this one." Steve noted, he looked up at Danny "It's clearly the same killer, but she hasn't been raped." He explained.

The obvious answer to this was simple. David had been attracted to the previous girl, but had no physical attraction to his second victim. Yet, in this girl's case, she had simply been the result of him going on some sort of rampage. "Alright, so we have two dead girls, one was raped, one wasn't." Danny looked at Steve, a little confused "What's the connection?" He asked.

"You're a detective, yet you're the one asking ME?" Steve asked, with a slight eye roll "What do you think the connection is Danno?" He asked.

Danny could only shake his head, cross his arms, and thoughtfully stare down at the body. "I think there's more to the story than Ben saw... Or is telling us. Because this was too clean for a drunk like David to do. Whoever did it, their aim was precise." He shook his head slightly "He knew exactly what he was doing, and exactly how he was going to do it." He explained.

Steve sighed, he didn't want to believe that Ben was hiding something from him. After all, the kid didn't seem like the lying type, but the evidence wasn't exactly stacking up in his favor. Steve took a deep breath, looked toward Danny, and shook his head slightly. "Why would he lie? I thought I had his trust." He added.

"Steve, let me explain something about kids to you." Danny stated, annoyed that Steve suddenly considered himself an "expert" in a way "You had ONE breakfast with him. This kid has been on the streets for who KNOWS how long." Steve crossed his arms, and stared off to the side "If there is someone he is trying to protect? He is going to lie to you, no questions asked." Steve nodded his head slowly "What we need to do, is get his trust, so that he'll come to one of us." He explained.

"How do we even know the kid KNOWS anything?" Steve questioned.

"Because he's our only witness, and already, something doesn't add up." Danny told him flatly, shaking his head "Steve, I know you like the kid, but get real. We are dealing with a street kid. Whether you like it or not, they and cops go together like Lindsey Lohan and jail." Steve nodded his head slowly, having a feeling that Danny had a good point "Look, I'm not saying he's involved in any way. But I think that he at the very least knows someone ELSE who is." He added.

"Two killers." Steve nodded his head.

"Or a rapist, and a killer." Danny nodded as well.

Steve could only hope, for Ben's sake that he wasn't hiding anything to save his own butt. He liked the kid, he really did, and he didn't want to see him get into any serious trouble.

...

It had taken about two hours to get Ben satisfied with learning how to work "the Table". Following which, Kono had gotten back to doing her actual work and Ben had been left to do what he wanted. So long as he didn't destroy, steal, or really _touch _anything expensive. Ben had found his way into Steve's office by some coincidence. Slowly looking around, he was stunned to find it pretty low tech and even a bit old school. His hand rested upon a picture, looking over at the picture in the frame, running his hand along it.

"That's my sister, Mary-Ann and I, last year." Ben jumped slightly, turning around to see Steve had entered the office "Not my most flattering picture, but Kono caught us by surprise that day." Ben chuckled and nodded as he set the picture down "What brought you in here?" He asked.

Ben shrugged his shoulders a little, he smiled a little. "I don't know. I guess since I'm living with you, I was just curious to learn more about you." Ben told him, his voice filed with honesty "So you have a sister, huh?" Steve nodded his head "I take it the guy in the other picture is your Dad?" Ben nodded to a picture of him, Steve, and Mary Ann when they were kids, another nod "Where's he?" He asked.

Being an orphan himself, Ben knew the answer by the look in Steve's eyes already. "He died, about a year ago." Steve replied, shaking his head a little "Not exactly a happy story to tell. Maybe another time though." He explained "They found another dead body." He got right to the point, Ben's eyes widened a little "This time the girl wasn't raped." He explained.

"That's... Weird." Ben replied.

"You're telling me. It's got us stumped." Ben nodded his head at Steve slowly "Do you remember ANYTHING else from that night, Ben? I'm not here to judge. But the facts aren't adding up here. It's the same MO but this girl wasn't even touched in that way." Ben was silent, and Steve shook his head "Look, if you're afraid of something, we can protect you, I hope you know that." He added.

Ben nodded his head a bit, but then shook it slowly. "All I remember was seeing someone shoot her, Steve. Honest." Ben replied, trying to keep himself calm "But... I did see someone... Else." Ben took a deep breath, maybe if he told him that, they'd find Ted without him snitching "I couldn't tell who it was, and I honestly _don't _know who pulled the trigger. At that point, it was so dark..." He shook his head "All I know was there was a second person there." He added.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Steve asked.

"I wasn't sure if I was just seeing things out of fear." Ben explained, shifting slightly "I didn't want to give you guys a false lead."

Steve nodded his head slowly, alright, he could buy that. It had been dark that night, and it could have been easy to have seen things. Steve sighed a bit, and looked Ben in the eyes. "Alright, I can buy that. But if you remember ANYTHING else about that night, I need you to tell me, kid." Steve told him, he crossed his arms "I know its not easy to trust cops sometimes. But try not to think about me as a cop... Think of me as your friend." He explained.

Ben nodded his head quietly, alright, he could think of him as his friend, that wasn't hard. "Thanks Steve." Ben told him quietly.

Steve stared at Ben curiously, he lifted an eyebrow slightly. "For what?" He asked.

Ben sighed a bit, he stared at Steve, not exactly sure what to say, or how to say it. He took a deep breath, and looked Steve in the eyes. "You're the first person whose... Ever wanted to be my friend." Ben said timidly, Steve simply smiled at that "I know it isn't easy trusting street kids. But I hope I can get your trust. You know?" He stated a little hoarsely.

Steve smiled, putting an arm gently around Ben's shoulders. "Kid, you already have it, one hundred percent." Steve admitted calmly "Now, I'm on break. So I figured I should take you to get some changes of clothing. These clothes are way too small on you, and you can't wear them every day." He sighed a bit "Just give me a few minutes to fill out this report, okay?" He asked.

"Sure thing, I'll wait in the waiting room." Ben nodded as he exited the room.

Steve watched him go silently, as if something was going to actually happen to him while at HQ. He couldn't believe he was actually thinking that way, but he really liked this kid. Sure, he was definitely hiding something, and of course, he didn't know him that well. But he definitely was getting through to this kid already. Even if he knew that in the end, getting attached to the kid was the last thing he wanted to do, as attachment was a dangerous thing. "Don't get attached McGarett." He chastised himself quietly "Way too dangerous." He added.

But it wasn't going to help him, not one little bit.

...

By the end of the work day, Steve had eight changes of clothing for Ben, two dead bodies, and no sign of David anywhere. Was it even possible to have both a productive and unproductive day rolled into one? He wasn't sure, but thus far that was about what that day felt like. He quietly sat at his desk, finishing off what remained of the paperwork as Ben laid across the couch in his office, sound asleep. Steve frowned quietly, the boy was so exhausted, even without having to do any of the work, he was sure he was under a great deal of stress over all of this.

The door to the office opened quietly, causing Steve to look up at Danny and carefully place a finger against his lips. Danny only turned to see the sleeping thirteen year old boy sleeping soundly to know why. "Kid's out like a light, huh?" Danny asked as he seated himself in front of Steve's desk "He must have gone through a lot to escape that guy." He added.

"I think he's just exhausted from the stress of it all." Steve replied quietly "Kid witnessed a murder, Danno. Not to mention heard a rape. You can't tell me you'd be physically and emotionally exhausted after that too." He stated, quite bluntly.

Danny nodded his head a bit, he turned to Ben, then noticed Steve was still not done with his paperwork. "You want me to drive him by your place? I was about to head out for the night." Steve looked up at Danny quietly "I could put him to bed and watch him until you get there, and all." He added.

Steve simply shook his head, knowing that the rest of the team hadn't quite gained his trust entirely. "Nah, he may freak out if I'm not there. Kids tense enough as is." He replied, shaking his head a bit "Thanks for the offer, but I'm just about done anyway." He admitted.

"Whatever you say man. See you tomorrow." He stated with a two finger salute.

Steve sighed as Danny walked out of the office, staring down at the paperwork. The grimace on Steve's face said it all, he really hoped the kid came to truth the others quickly. As this was not going to be as easy as it hoped it would be. Especially not when he was at the center of a case like this.


	5. Learning to Live With Each Other

**CHAPTER 5  
>Learning to Live With Each Other<strong>

SHATTER!

That wasn't exactly the first thing that Steve wanted to wake up on his day off to. Cursing under his breath quietly, he pulled himself out of bed. He was only half aware that he'd instinctively grabbed the gun. But he would have anyway, he had a kid in the house, and that could have been a shattered window for all he knew. What he came to the kitchen to was Ben standing, a bit stunned over a shattered glass of orange juice. Sighing Steve shook his head as he started to crouch down to pick it up. "Don't, you'll cut yourself up. I got this." He muttered.

Ben had only been in his home for a week, but Steve had already learned to not sweat the small stuff like this. Ben was still only thirteen, and he was still recovering from trauma, little slips like this weren't anything to get upset about. He really had to learn that at this point, considering the lack of evidence or suspects brought in were starting to make an extended stay look more and more likely. "I'm really sorry, I was trying to get breakfast without waking you up." Ben chewed his lip "But I tripped and-" He began.

"Ben it's fine, really, it's just orange juice." Steve chuckled, shaking his head a little "I think I can handle getting out a broom and dustpan." He gently tossed the young teen's hair before pulled him to his side "Relax." He shook him a bit.

Ben wasn't sure he'd ever get used to Steve's friendliness. As far as he could tell he was a hard-ass on the job, but off the job he was the pur opposite. It was a bit awkward, but Ben tended to not mind. He'd dealt with a lot of adults that were real jerks, he wasn't about to complain about being around a nice one. Steve was quick to clean up the mess before he calmly turned to Ben. "Hungry? Because we can always go out for something to eat." He added.

"Nah, I'll eat here." Ben replied, he shrugged slightly "You don't have work so it's kinda pointless to make you take me out and pay for the food." He stated.

Steve shrugged his shoulders slightly, quickly grabbing a bowl, milk and Lucky Charms. He had by now learned what it was exactly that Ben liked to eat, and gotten into a routine. He got Ben his breakfast first before getting his own breakfast. "So, I was thinking..." Steve stated as Ben started to prepare his food, and he poured him another glass of orange juice "We might get to know one another better. Considering I have the day off." He noted.

"I thought we've gotten to know each other pretty well?" Ben asked, confused.

"I was talking more along the lines of bonding." Steve replied, Ben looked at him calmly "It's pretty obvious that you're going to be here for a while. And I don't want to spend that time completely focused on the case." He shook his head "That would make this very boring." Ben chuckled, nodding in agreement "You ever surfed before?" He asked.

"Not really, I can't swim worth crap, to be honest." Ben replied.

"Alright, that takes away that option." Steve wasn't exactly fit to teach someone who didn't know how to swim how to surf "Well, I guess we can go to the beach and decide what to do from there." Ben nodded, figuring that it wouldn't hurt "I think it'll do us both some good to get away from this case as is. It's not really helping us any sitting around wondering." He added.

"I wish it was just as easy as finding them." Ben muttered.

"You and me both, bud." Steve replied, honestly.

Ben eyed Steve quietly as he finished his cereal, he still didn't exactly seem to suspect something in his eyes. But every so often, the small things that Steve would say would make him wonder if he was onto the brother he was trying to protect. Sighing and standing up, he cleaned off his dish calmly. Turning to Steve calmly. "I guess it's a good thing we got that bathing suit, huh?" Ben grinned a bit "I'd feel way out of place without one." He added.

"Exactly why I got it, just in case. Now go on, get ready. I'll meet you down here." He noted.

Steve was quick to finish off his breakfast before heading up to get ready himself. Of course, one he had gotten dressed, his phone rang. He sighed quietly, he may have had days off, but that never meant that he had time to relax, not hardly. Taking a deep breath, and answering. "McGarrett." He muttered.

"Well hello to you too."

Steve grinned widely at the sound of Catherine's voice, it'd been a long time. Too long in fact, since he'd heard her voice. "Sorry Catherine, I was given a rude awakening this morning." Steve smiled a little "I've had a sort of new house guest this week." He stated, making sure Ben wasn't nearby "This homeless kid I met got caught in the middle of this murder case. And..." He didn't even finish his sentence.

"You don't have to say anything else." Catherine chuckled "You with a kid, that has to be the most amusing sight of the century."

Steve smiled a bit, shaking his head a little. "Nah, he's a good kid, I actually am really enjoying having him around, pitfalls and all." He then noted "I'm just glad that the kid isn't any younger then he is, because I'm having enough trouble with a thirteen year old." He heard Catherine giggle on the other end "You'd really like him, actually. He's got a wit about him you'd enjoy." He added.

"You're not thinking of keeping him, are you?" Catherine asked.

Steve paused for a moment, he wasn't exactly sure how to answer that at this point. It'd crossed his mind once, maybe twice. But at the end of the day, he was still struggling to keep up with being a temporary caretaker. "Honestly, I don't even know. If I still can't keep up by the time this case is over? Probably not." Steve rolled his eyes a bit "With my reckless lifestyle though, I doubt Social Services would let me." He chewed his lip a bit "I miss you." He added.

"Don't go all mushy on me suddenly." Catherine teased "I'll be back before you know it." She added "I really need to go though, I'm being called by my commanding officer and-"

"Go, I promised Ben I'd take him to the beach anyway." Steve smiled "I love you."

"Back atcha, Steve."

Steve smirked as he hung up, one day, he would get a real response from her, he told himself. As he turned around, he quickly found Ben in the doorway. "Girlfriend?" Ben asked, Steve nodded his head a bit "Cool, when do I get to meet her?" He asked.

"You probably won't. She's overseas right now." Steve patted the boy on the shoulder "Which is too bad, really. I think you'd both get along well." He admitted, Ben nodded his head, putting his hands in his pockets "Come on, bud. Let's get down to the beach. I'm in need of sun, surf, and relaxation." He noted as he exited the room.

The question, surprisingly, still weighed in on his mind.

...

The one thing Ben hated about beaches was not the most surprising thing at all. Quietly he watched them, their smiling faces, their laughter, the way they got along so well. The families, them and their happiness, them and their togetherness. Even when his brother hadn't disappeared and _supposedly _murdered a girl, he'd never really been family for him either. Ted had never really had time for him in his life, and even if he tried to deny it, their parents death had only basically unhinge him further.

He tried to keep his eyes on Steve for the reason that the pain was too great. He'd gone out to surf for a bit, but even from the beach, he could see him. To say Ben was impressed would have been an understatement. But surfing had always impressed him, he knew he could never do it, and that only added to it. He thought he'd only turned away to watch the family for a few minutes, but it must have been longer as Steve's hand was on his shoulder soon enough. "You okay, bud?" He asked, planting his surfboard in the sand.

Ben turned to Steve, his eyes lifting up to his silently. "Yeah, it's just, sometimes..." Ben paused for a moment, trying to think of the right words "Watching happy families isn't exactly easy..." He muttered.

"I can imagine it wouldn't be." Steve noted, he rubbed the boy's shoulder slightly "You know, we can go somewhere else if this is uncomfortable for you." He stated, trying to at least be kind, Ben turned to him "We don't need to be somewhere that's obviously going to torment you." He added.

Ben let out a quiet sigh, shaking his head a little. He hated when someone did this, made him feel bad like that. He didn't want him to feel like he couldn't enjoy a day on the beach just because it was painful for him. "No, no. I'll be fine, really, I watch it every day anyway." Ben shrugged his shoulders slightly, frowning a little "I'd feel really bad if you skipped the beach because of me." He added.

Steve smiled slightly, wrapping an arm gently around Ben's shoulders. Yeah, he wasn't his Father, Foster, Adopted, or Biological, but he could try and pretend to be one for a day at least. "Well, why does anyone have to know we aren't a family, right?" Ben raised an eyebrow "Come on, from here on out, as far as everyone else knows, we're Father and son." He nudged him "Think you can play along for a day?" He asked.

Ben smiled, and nodded his head. "Yeah, I can play along." Ben replied "Can I get a shaved ice?"

Steve felt his phone vibrate, and sighed, but nodded, handing him a couple of dollars. "I'll be right over, give me a minute." He nodded his head, Ben grinned and jogged off as Steve answered "McGarrett." He stated.

"There's been a third homicide." The words rang in Steve's ears rather loudly even if Danny's voice was calm "But this time, we've got a different MO. No bruises, no cuts, execution style, one bullet to the back of the head." Steve paused for a moment "It was a thirteen year old kid, Steve, brown hair... Blue eyes." He stated.

It didn't take long for Steve to get it, his head turned toward Ben. Who was getting his shaved ice, and looked rather happy. "Someone was looking to kill Ben." He stated in a low voice.

Needless to say, Steve was already in a mini-panic, even before the confirmation came.


	6. The Right Thing

**CHAPTER 6  
>The Right Thing <strong>

Steve had wasted no time getting to the HQ with Ben in-toe. Though it was an interruption to his day off, he found himself openly concerned at the fact someone that looked like Ben had been murdered. They were both out of their casual wear, Ben wearing some simple clothing and Steve dressed for work. "Do we have a name for our victim yet?" Steve asked almost immediately.

Noticing the tension in Steve's face, Danny frowned at him. He knew that look all too well, it was a look of fear, of worry. For once he didn't offer sarcasm to Steve, any other time he would, but considering it could have been Ben out there, he chose not to. "Yeah, Michael Stevens. Kid wasn't even a street kid, surprisingly. His Mom's a nurse and his Dad works in the department." Chin shook his head as he brought his picture on screen.

Steve eyed Ben quietly, extremely concerned by this point. This kid looked like Ben, and to top it off had a Father in the HPD. "The killer has to know Ben's in protective custody then. I mean come on, that can't be coincidence." Steve breathed out, he shook his head "How far were you followed that night, Ben? Could you tell?" He asked, turning his head, Ben shook his head no "Christ, that means this guy could have seen us." He muttered.

"Chances are, he did. Because it doesn't look isolated to me either." Kono replied, shaking her head "The other murders seemed random, but this one looked more deliberate. Which means that the other two targets weren't specific." She sighed a bit "But how did he even know Michael's Dad was in the HPD?" She asked.

"If the killer is from the streets..." Ben observed, as the others turned to him "He could be involved in a gang, right? They probably keep tabs on any officers that they have a grudge against." He shrugged "At least, that's what I hear." He added.

Danny for the first time looked up, and nodded. "Kid's got a point. But it's really unlikely he knew Michael was the son of an HPD officer." Danny asked, the others turned to them "This kid was killed near the same alley that Crystal was killed in. He might have just thought it was Ben and got lucky." He explained, shaking his head "I mean, after all, if you knew someone had seen you, and you were desperate to make sure they kept quiet. Were you really going to take the time to stop and research him when you thought you saw him walking down the street?" He asked.

Steve shook his head slowly. "Either way, we need to find this David guy and get him into custody, ASAP." Steve noted, he shook his head slowly "If it's not him, then he has an accomplice out there who's borderline out of control. And even though he might think Ben's dead now, who the hell KNOWS if he'll kill anyone else." He shook his head "Whoever is doing this thinks he's in the clear." He added.

Ben shifted uneasily, he looked up. "I'll... I'll be right back."

Steve watched him quietly as he rushed out of the room, even more uneasy than usual. Taking a deep breath, he made his way out after him, leaving the rest of the team more than a little confused. "Ben?" Ben turned his head, having been standing outside, his back turned, tears in his eyes "Alright, I've been quiet about this long enough. But that did it for me." Steve noted "What do you know that you're not telling us?" He asked.

"I don't know anything." Ben choked.

"Says the kid out here crying, I can hear you." Steve replied.

Ben felt his body intensify, yet he knew he couldn't keep it a secret anymore. His brother had just killed a kid that looked like _him_, he was trying to kill him. He couldn't deny it any more. His brother was after him, and whether he liked it or not, he needed help. "That night... In the alley?" Ben turned his head "I saw my older brother, Ted." Steve froze in his tracks "It was right after I saw Crystal get shot. But I didn't... I didn't want to think he would do it." He muttered.

"Did he have the gun?" Steve asked, he crossed his arms, Ben only slowly nodded his head "Christ, Ben, do you realize how much this information would have HELPED?" He groaned, trying to keep his cool "When did you plan on TELLING us?" He asked.

As Steve made his way forward, Ben prepared for him to hit him, yell, something. But instead he found firm, strong arms around him, he hadn't even realized how hard he was crying, but it clearly had been enough for Steve to grow concerned. "I didn't know he'd go after me... I didn't think... I didn't think he'd pulled the trigger." He shook his head "And I knew if he did, he'd go to jail and I'd be alone. You just don't get it Steve. He's all I have, and he'd never- I mean, I never thought he'd ever do this." He choked.

Steve hated to say it, but he really understood where the boy was coming from. No one wanted to be the person to turn in their last remaining family member, whether they were guilty, or not. "Hey... Hey, you did the right thing, alright?" Steve let go of him for a moment, crouching to his level and putting his hands on either one of Ben's arms "I know that can be hard sometimes, but you did." He added.

"You're not angry at me?" Ben wiped tears from his eyes slowly.

"No way, I get it, I really do." Steve told him, calmly as he could, he shook his head "And you're not alone either, alright? You've got me, you've got us." Steve tried to reassure him as best as he could "A brother out to kill you? Isn't worth protecting, because kid, he doesn't care about you." Ben stared down, but Steve sighed, moving a finger under his chin, lifting it up "But I do, alright? Nothing is going to happen to you." He added.

"Promise?" Ben asked quietly.

Steve stared Ben in the eyes, nodding his head slowly. Oddly enough, he was determined to make sure that nothing happened to Ben. Even if it had only been a week, he'd already grown attached to the boy. "I promise. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe." He told him, calmly and in a low voice "But from now on there can't be any more secrets, Ben. I'm not going to have you keeping secrets if you're going to live with me." He told him, firmly, standing up.

Ben stared at Steve for a few moments before the statement finally registered. He'd been so used to him saying "staying with me" that he hadn't expected the words "live" to come out. "You mean like, live with you... Beyond the case?" Ben asked, Steve smirked a little "Steve, you don't have to-" He began.

"I'm not listening to any excuses." Steve told Ben, setting his hand firmly on his nearest shoulder "You're coming to live with me. What comes of that... Let's just wait and see. But I'm not going to take "no" for an answer." He smiled a little bit, oddly enough, he realized that he wanted him there "So long as you don't run away in the middle of the night after robbing me blind or anything, I think I can manage taking care of you." He added.

Ben smirked back a little, it was an unexpected offer. But he did like living with Steve, and he really hadn't been looking forward to leaving. "Alright, alright, if it'll make you feel better." Ben managed to reply, though really it had been the other way around "Thank you." He said a little more softly.

"Yo, Super Seal!" Steve turned his head to see Danny at the other end of the hallway "You two done yet, as heartfelt as the idea of you raising a mini Evil Canievel is, we still have a killer to find." Steve rolled his eyes a bit, but smirked "Not to mention we got a hit on David. We just got a call from an informant. He's drunk as hell down at the Hau Tree Bar." He added.

"We'd better get down there then." Steve nodded.

Turning to Ben calmly, he gently pulled him into a hug as Chin and Danny made their way down the hallway. "Steve." Ben called out as he started to head for the door himself "Be careful, alright?" He stated.

Steve smiled, nodding his head a bit as he rushed out the door afte his partner and friend. Ben turned his head at the sound of a throat being cleared, noticing Kono leaning against the wall, smiling a bit. "I wouldn't worry too much." She told him, calmly making her way over "Steve's faced a lot worse than David and your brother, trust me." She added.

"You guys were eavesdropping, weren't you?" Ben asked.

"We were worried, more than anything, honestly." Kono replied, Ben still stared at the door "Come on, why don't you tell me everything you can about your brother?" She put a hand on his shoulder lightly "Trust me, you don't have to worry about Steve, he'll come back in one piece. Just maybe a little bruised..." She knew "a little" was most likely an understatement.

"Why did Danny call him a Super Seal, anyway?" Ben asked, tilting his head.

"Oh believe me, if you're going to be under his care, you'll find out before too long." Kono noted, she rolled her eyes "Steve has a rather, interesting way of handling things." She explained, leading him towards the main room "Now, what can you tell me about your brother. Starting with name and age?" She asked.

Ben took a deep breath, and inwardly hoped that Steve was right, and that he was doing the right thing here.

...

A/N: I hope I handled that well enough. I didn't want to drag out Steve asking him to live with him too long. After all, it's going to only be more interesting seeing Steve adjust to his responsibilities while handling the case in my opinion.


	7. Not Going To Be Easy

**CHAPTER 7  
>Not Going to be Easy<strong>

"So, let me get this straight, you know this kid for one week. The guy has a psychotic brother. And you've now decided you want to become his legal guardian?" Danny stated as they made their way through the lobby of the Rainbow Tower "Steve, have you lost your frickn' MIND? Like honestly, I think it's great. Ben needs a home and all..." he paused a little "But are you sure you can HANDLE being a legal guardian. He isn't a dog, you can't decide you've had enough of him and put him somewhere." He added.

Steve shook his head, shooting Danny a glance, he took a deep, inward breath. "Look, Danno, I'm not a complete idiot." Steve responded, he shook his head slowly "I know the responsibility I'm taking on here. But I can't help but feel like I was supposed to find him." He shook his head "Something about that kid just clicks with me. I don't know, I just want to take care of him, does that make sense?" He asked.

"No, not really. Maybe if you had him for like a year. But only a week?" Danny shook his head a bit "I just think you're in over your head, okay? I want to repeat this to you. I think what you're doing for Ben is great, but don't you think you should just WAIT?" He asked, then paused "Oh who the hell am I kidding? This is you we're talking about, you don't even know the MEANING of patience." He muttered.

"It's my life Danny, if I want to bring a street kid I happen to be very fond of into it. Then it's my business." Steve replied, rather bluntly and to the point "I have enough room in that house for eight kids. I don't think one now FORMERLY homeless kid is going to be too much trouble." He explained "Now if you don't like the sound of that, then feel free to SILENTLY judge me." He noted.

Steve made his way towards the Hau Tree Bar calmly, immediately catching sight of the drunken man. Taking a deep breath, he looked David over, he now really understood why the street children were told to avoid him, he was quite the sight. "David Kahala?" He asked as he carefully approached the man, who looked up and nodded "Good, that makes my job easy. We need you to come downtown, right now." He added.

"Dare I ask WHY?" The man snorted slightly.

"Crystal Blaze, ring any bells?" David looked up, eyes widened "Yeah, thought so." He held up his badge "Five-0, I know you know the badge, most scumbags like you do." David was on his feet, standing taller than Steve and glaring at him "Now are you going to come calmly, or are we going to do this the hard way?" He asked.

Of course, that was a dumb question. David shoved Steve out of the way, and made a dead bolt away from him as quickly as he could. Steve rolled his eyes a bit, Danny looked over at him. "Chin's waiting down the way. You still going to-?" Steve was already hot on David's tail before Danny even got the words out "Of course you are, for a minute I forgot I was dealing with Rambo." He muttered.

Steve didn't even slow down to catch a breath, whether Chin was waiting or not. The fact of the matter was that Steve was emotionally invested in this case, and most of all, in finding Ted Davenport by this point. It took one surprisingly hard tackle to bring David to the ground, to which Steve smirked. "Why do they ALWAYS try to run?" The man grunted as he lifted him up "Word of advice, next time, take the easy way." He noted.

"Why did I come again?" Chin asked, looking up at Danny.

"Thought he'd be too distracted for once." Danny muttered, not exactly happy that he'd been wrong.

"Don't underestimate me." Steve replied flatly, as he began to lead David away.

...

David Kahala was seated in the interrogation room an hour later, his glare never leaving either of the men. His story hadn't changed over the course of those two hours, not even a single word. "Look you frickin' IDIOTS, I'm telling you, I didn't kill her." David insisted, shaking his head a little "Yeah, I raped her, I've admitted it eight times now, but I don't even own a gun!" He insisted.

"Yet you REFUSE to tell us if Ted Davenport was on the scene that night?" Steve asked, starting to quickly lose his patience.

"Look, cop, I ain't no snitch." David sent a glare Danny's way "Especially not in the presence of a Haole."

Danny nearly went at him for that one, but Steve was quick to hold him back a bit. Calmly, Steve made his way over, slamming his hands down on the table he was seated at. "Look, David. Just like back at the bar, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Steve told him, this seemed to get David's attention "Now either you killed three people, raping ONE of them. Or Ted did, so would you rather not 'snitch' or spend the rest of your life behind bars?" He asked.

"Teddy killed two more?" David said, almost stunned.

"So it WAS Ted then?" Danny observed.

David grimaced, he'd been caught by his own big mouth. Taking a deep breath, he finally nodded his head, and stared between the two of them. "I didn't even know he was going to kill the first one. After I had my fun... He just..." He paused, shaking his head slightly "He just pulled the trigger, muttering something about setting her free. Then this kid shows up and he goes ballistic, chases him several blocks." He mutters.

"And you didn't follow?" Steve asked.

"No way man, I'm no murderer." David replied flatly "Especially not of some little kid who was there to see it. I'll do my time if I have to, but not for being a child murderer." He shook his head "I can't really help you much, I hope you know that. After that I ran, never saw him again." He admitted, Danny nodded his head slowly, Steve just stared at him "Did he kill the kid?" He asked.

"No, that kid's fine, he killed another though." Steve made his way forward, he leaned close to him "We'll be in touch, if you know anything, you let us know. Seeing as you aren't leaving the state jail for a LONG time." He then nodded at Danny "Book 'em Danno." He noted.

Steve stepped out of the interrogation room calmly, taking a deep breath. They were no closer to finding Ted Davenport than when they'd started, much to his dismay. Just once he wished that the case had been easy, in and out. But of course it wasn't, it never was. Sighing and making his way down the hall, he quickly made his way to his office. Chin came through the door a moment later. "How did it go?" He asked.

"Guy didn't even know that Ted Davenport was going to kill that woman." Steve shook his head a bit "We're not even close to solving this." He added.

Chin nodded his head a bit, then looked at Steve in the eyes. "Steve, are you seriously thinking about taking him in?" Steve sighed, he looked his old friend in the eyes and nodded his head quietly "Never thought I'd see that day, brotha. Feels like I've stepped into the Twilight Zone." Steve chuckled and shrugged his shoulders a bit "So, what are you going to tell Catherine?" He asked.

"She actually saw it coming." Steve shrugged, then looked at Chin again "What do you think of all of this? I know Kono likes him and Danny thinks I'm insane... You're the only quiet one." He added.

Chin stared at Steve for a moment, he looked unsure of his answer. Steve was aware Chin hadn't spent much time with Ben, but he did know Steve well enough to have formulated an opinion. "I think that he's going to do you some good personally. Maybe he'll tone you down a bit." Chin tried to say it with a straight face, but they both ended up laughing "In all seriousness though, it's your life Steve. My opinion shouldn't matter." He shrugged his shoulders "I will vouch for you if you need someone to, though." He added.

"Thanks, I'm probably going to need it." Steve replied, taking a deep breath "Look I'm clocking out early. It's still my day off and it's been a long one." He noted "Plus I need to start talking to Social Services and all that crap. Get Ben off the streets as soon as possible." He admitted, he shook his head "Hopefully, I can at least get legal custody of him and get him enrolled in school." He added.

"Probably best, can't spend every day around here." Chin shrugged "I'll call you if anything comes up." He added.

"Thanks Chin." Steve replied.

Steve calmly made his way out of the office, taking a deep breath. As much as he wanted to focus on what he'd just told Chin, he couldn't get the case off of his mind. Ted Davenport was still at large, and there was absolutely no telling if he actually believed that Ben was dead. Steve couldn't help but feel a certain level of sadness towards that, that more people could die because he'd yet to be found. He tried to convince himself that it wasn't his fault, but a part of him felt it was.

Yet inwardly, he swore to himself that no matter what happened, he'd see to it that Ted was brought to justice. By any means necessary.

...

A/N: Double post night I suppose! Muse must like me today. LOL


	8. No Such Thing As Easy

**CHAPTER 8  
>No Such Thing As Easy<strong>

Steve was pretty sure he'd need eight days off just to figure out how the Social Services system worked. Without Ben being technically registered in it, he at least didn't have to go through the long version of signing up. But he still had to overgo a home search, background check, semi-annual check-ups, court dates, Steve did his best to not collapse from exhaustion just thinking about it. He was starting to think that Danny was right and that frankly, he was in over his head, way over his head.

Yet he'd promised Ben that he'd get to live with him, and whether he was or not, Steve never backed down from a promise. Steve peered down at his chest, where Ben was soundly rested against. He'd passed out about ten minutes into a movie that Steve had only been half-paying attention to. Steve oddly enough found himself gently stroking his hair, Ben only shifted a bit and buried himself deeper into his chest. Yeah, that was all the reassurance that he needed that he was doing the right thing here.

"Ben." He muttered, Ben shifted a bit "Come on bud, I really need to fill these forms out." He muttered.

Ben never moved, the boy must sleep like a rock, Steve figured. Taking a deep breath, he carefully lifted Ben as calmly as he could. He'd never carried a kid to bed, but he'd seen Danny do it with Grace enough times that he knew what to do. Sighing as he gently nudged open the door to the Guest Bedroom, he carefully settled him into the bed, tucking the sheets and blanket over him. Steve smiled at himself, he was at the very least, learning fast.

The sound of a doorbell made him nearly jump. He sighed quietly, leaving the room and closing the door quietly. His first instinct was to grab his gun, but he refrained from that, it was only ten in the evening, not quite the hour where you'd need to arm yourself. As he opened the front door, he was glad he hadn't either, as he found Danny on his front doorstep. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Steve asked, he titled his head "Don't tell me there's a fourth homicide." He muttered.

"Nah, nothing like that. I came here to help you, believe it or not." Steve only stared blankly at Danny for a few moments after he'd stated that "Look, if you're going to take this kid in. You've got schools to look at, and heaven forbid I let you pick one out." Steve grinned a bit, a little surprised, but in a good way "Don't get me wrong, I still think you're insane. But you're still my friend." He nodded.

"Just get in here and help me out." Steve rolled his eyes "I could really use it." He admitted.

"Of course you can, you've never been a parent." Danny replied "Now, let's start with the easy stuff. What schools are you looking at?" He asked as they entered the living room, Danny picked up a few printed papers "Military Academies? Boarding? Private? No, no, no, hell no. You need to go PUBLIC, Steven. I know what your thought is, but sending him away, or with guards around him? Won't help any. And a private school won't exactly be OPEN to a former street kid." Danny scolded.

Steve already had the feeling that he might already regret taking Danny's help, but he sighed a bit. "Well, i found a public school just a block down from HQ. He could come right down there from school, I figured. If I went that route." Steve nodded his head "I'm just a little nervous he'd be a sitting duck if his brother showed up... But I guess you make a point." Steve nodded his head a bit.

"Well that'll work either way. That's pretty easy, I can take him down and get him registered, if you want." Danny shrugged his shoulders "Though you'll need to fill out a whole lot of crap. And you HAVE to fill it out correctly. You know, stuff regarding emergency contacts, and stuff like that." He added, he sighed a bit, and then added "Oh, and definitely get involved in the PTA, because otherwise you'll get blindsided by school things before you know what's hit you." He explained.

Steve already felt his brain frying, and this was only the school side of things. He could add this to the long list of things that he wished there was an "Easy" button for. "God, I haven't even gotten full custody of him and this is already nerve-wracking." He muttered under his breath, turning to Danny "Please tell me the duties get EASIER?" He asked.

"Harder actually, much harder." Danny seemed to be enjoying this epiphany of his a little too much "Now, let's try tackling some of this social services stuff you've got up on the computer, shall we?" he suggested.

Steve had a feeling that this was going to be a long night, a very, very long night. He seated himself down on the couch slowly, and allowed Danny to help him, he didn't even ask how he knew what he was doing with this. But as long as Danny was helping him out, he wasn't about to complain, because he sure as hell had no idea what he was doing. Steve could only sigh, by the end of the night, he might be the one passing out cold. But it was going to be worth it, he kept telling himself, he was doing the right thing.

Maybe if he said that enough times, he'd feel better about going through the stress of all of this. Somehow though, he managed to convince himself that he was going to do just fine.

...

Ben shot up mid-way into his sleep, drenched with sweat. It wasn't the first nightmare he'd had, but this was the first time that Ben really felt a great amount of fear at it. It happened all the time, really, nightmares, mostly about the crash if nothing else. He'd seen it, after all, from a safe distance, but he'd still seen it. His eyes moved around the room, laying his head down, Steve hadn't come rushing in so he guessed he hadn't screamed out, at least. Oddly enough though, he wanted him there, he really did.

Ben sighed, climbing out of bed slowly, he snuck from his room. He could see the light in the living room and thus, snuck his way towards the doorway. By that point, Danny had left, and Steve had finally taken the chance to relax and watch something on television. "Steve?" Ben called out quietly, Steve stared up, a look of surprise on his face "C-Can I join you?" He asked quietly.

"Ben it's late bud, what are you doing up?" Steve asked, a little concerned.

Ben shifted a bit, he wasn't entirely sure how Steve would react. Quite frankly, he didn't want to look weird, but he couldn't help but feel like he would. "I, ummmm I had a nightmare." He managed to finally reply "I just thought maybe... You wouldn't." He shook his head a bit, and turned, about to head back to his room "Sorry, it's really stupid of me to just come in and-" He began.

"Hey, come on, you can join me."

Ben was surprised as the answer hit his ears, he noticed that Steve was patting the spot next to him calmly. Ben sighed a bit, inwardly thankful for it, he quietly made his way over. He felt Steve's arm gently wrap around his shoulders, and leaned against him slightly. "Thanks." Ben noted, he looked up at him, staring him in the eyes "Did I pass out? I woke up in bed." He added.

"Against me, actually. Don't worry, I don't mind." Steve shrugged, he rubbed his shoulder a bit "I guess I have to get used to that now. Danny and I just spent all night going through different schools and paperwork." He admitted, Ben nodded his head slowly "Hopefully this all goes over well, and we can get your brother in custody." He muttered.

"What will happen to him if you do?" Ben asked, quietly.

Steve wasn't sure how to answer that, he knew Ben still cared about his brother. Even if he had tried to kill him, Ted was stil his brother, his last blood relation left. Steve closed his eyes a bit, and thought it through for a moment. "He'll probably go to jail for the rest of his life." He finally settled for telling the truth "Where he belongs, unfortunately." He added.

"I guess I'm lucky I found you then..." Ben replied, his eyes closed "I'd be in Foster Care, wouldn't I?"

"Technically, you should be in Foster Care right now, since he can't provide for you." Steve sighed, he knew that much was true "Lucky for you, I'm working to be your legal guardian. Which should mean you don't have to be in the system." He explained "It's not adoption, but it's close enough." He added, calmly.

"Are you going to actually adopt me?" Ben asked, he tilted his head in confusion.

Steve looked at Ben, that was a tough question to answer, but he was still pretty sure it would happen, even if it was an eventual thing. "Eventually, I think I will. But that could take some time, all things considered." Steve replied, he stared at him calmly "Don't worry about that right now, though, Ben. What matters right now is that you're here now and you're not going anywhere." He added.

"I know." Ben muttered.

"Need to talk about the nightmare?" Ben seemed to think that over a minute, but shook his head "Hey, I get it, I never want to talk about my nightmares either." Steve shook his head slightly, and allowed Ben to lean down against his lap "Get some sleep, bud, I'm here, nothing bad's gonna happen to you." He told him, quietly, as he stroked his hair.

Ben was out like a light no more than a few minutes later. Steve smiled a bit, leaning his head back, his own eyes starting to get heavy. Sure, he was new to this, sure this wouldn't be easy. But Steve had a good feeling that he'd do much better at this than he'd ever expected himself too. Allowing himself to fall asleep, Steve was happy to feel even slightly relaxed.

...

A/N: I know, kind of a fluffy chapter, but they can't all be heavy. LOL


	9. First Days and Revelations

A/N: I am SO sorry for the trouble I've been having with this chapter. LOL Third time's the charm. This one has given me a lot of trouble.

...

**CHAPTER 9  
>First Days and Revelations<strong>

Steve couldn't believe how actually nervous he really was right now. He sat behind the wheel of the truck, tapping the side of the steering wheel nervously. It'd taken all of another week to get temporary custody of Ben, register him at the middle school, and get him supplies. The middle school had luckily been the one he suggested, literally a two minute walk to the Five-0 offices so that Ben could come by every day after school. But he was still nervous, Danny had checked it out with Ben and given it the thumbs up, but he couldn't help but have nerves.

Ben was a good kid, but children were cruel, and Ben hadn't been in school since his parents four years ago. Steve sighed, he hesitated for a moment, driving his way up to the front of the school slowly. it was older, but nice, quaint, a little on the small side but still decent sized. Steve hesitated on the gas pedal as Ben turned his head to look at him. "Steve?" Steve turned to Ben, chewing his lip "You okay?" He asked.

For the first time, Steve had a feeling that he was more nervous than Ben was. Ben looked about ready to leap out of the truck, probably thinking it was going to be more or less like Elementary School. Steve felt compelled to tell Ben that it was going to be nothing like that, but figured that would only cause him to be afraid. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just... I guess after two weeks I can't help but feel nervous." Steve smiled a little "The more you grow on me, the more protective I get." He admitted.

"You, Danny, Chin, and Kono are two minutes away, Steve." Ben told him, trying to keep him at least a little calm "I'll be fine, alright? I have a cell phone, I know the way to HQ." He shook his head a little "Danny took me yesterday to make sure I knew where each class was." He slouched a bit, a little nervous now "I have no reason to actually _be _scared, is there?" He asked, quietly.

Steve smiled, he put an arm around him, and pulled him over. He managed to place a kiss on top of his head slowly, he'd only recently started to do that, but he was trying to be loving. This kid was his now, even if he _wasn't _adopted yet, he was his guardian right now, working to be his legal guardian. He wanted to try as best as he could to be a parental figure to him. "Nah, kiddo, you're going to do great." He reassured him, Ben smiled a bit "I promise." He added.

Ben nodded his head slowly, his stomach churning a bit now, a little more nervous than he wanted to be. Steve carefully ran a hand through his hair, and smiled a bit. "You're going to be fine, honestly. You've got the brains, the charm. And the girls? Are going to go crazy over you since you're a real looker." Ben grinned at Steve's light encouragement "I can't wait for you to come to HQ after school and tell me all about it." He added.

Ben nodded his head slowly, opening the door next to him slowly, climbing out calmly. Steve rolled down the window calmly, and decididly called out a few final words of encouragement. "Have a great day at school! And remember, if anyone screws with you? All you have to do is mention your Guardian's a Navy Seal!" Ben looked over his shoulder and shot him a grin, holding up a thumbs up.

Steve watched as Ben, schedule tightly clutched in his hand, started to make his way towards the front doors of his school. The nerves were still within him, eating away at his nerves. What if Ben was teased, or not quite up to speed with the other kids. What if both happened? He tried to keep himself calm, Ben needed this, he needed to live a normal life and go to school like a normal kid. He told himself that repeatedly, and reminded himself that not all kids were cruel, and he knew it. But a part of him worried that he might be proven wrong.

The phone started ringing and Steve sighed, taking the phone out of his pocket. "McGarrett." He replied.

"It's been five minutes since the school bell rang." Danny's voice came over the other end, Steve noted he must have been there longer than he thought, and missed it "He's going to be okay, Steve. But you gotta let go. Now get over here, we may have a lead on Ted." That got Steve's attention "We got a man in here claiming he might have shadowed his girlfriend." He noted.

Steve nodded his head. "I'm on my way." He replied.

As he hung the phone up, Steve took one look back at the school. Trying to convince himself that Danny's words would prove true. Ben was a strong kid, he'd get through this, and he knew it. But he had to be the one that let go, that let Ben off the leash he had started to put him off. "Damn, Danno's right, this doesn't get ANY easier." He muttered under his breath as he pulled out of the school's parking lot.

...

Steve rushed into the offices as quickly as he could, nerves surging through his body. A young caucasian man of about twenty-two sat in the main room, Danny was with him, he quickly made his way over, and sighed. "Sir, I am so sorry for taking as long as I did to get here. I was just dropping..." Steve paused, but evenutally settled on "My kid off for his first day of school." He explained.

"Of course, completely understandable." The man muttered quietly.

Steve stared at the man, he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. "Alright, so as I understand from Danny, your girlfriend was being stalked by Ted Davenport?" The man looked up and nodded his head a bit "Can you identify which victim it was?" He asked.

"Jenna Riley, the second one. I'm Matthew Richards, by the way." Matthew stated quietly "I should have come forward sooner, and I'm sorry I didn't. I hear... I hear he killed a kid..." He shook his head slowly "I got two little brothers back in New York, and I couldn't help but think of them." He admitted softly "So when I saw that picture on television and recognized him..." He paused.

"And you're positive that he was the same guy?" Steve asked.

"Trust me, it wasn't the first time I'd seen him. It was like he was stalking us." Matthew shifted uncomfortably "Jenna and I were going through some problems lately. We'd been fighting a lot, that's why we took this vacation. Hoping to relieve some tension." He shook his head "But the fighting just got worse. And this guy just seemed to... Notice. First time it was just in passing. But then I'd see him EVERYWHERE. Like he was watching us." He shook his head.

"Did you fill out a police report?" Danny asked.

"How could I? I didn't know the guy's name." Matthew shook his head "That morning, Jenna and I got into a HUGE fight. And... I ended up smacking her." Both Steve and Danny looked more than a little upset at that, but Matthew seemed even moreso "I don't know what came over me, but God. I wanted to die after I'd done that it was just... It was so fucked up." He stated, tears were slowly forming in his eyes "She stormed away from me, and that's when I saw... That Ted guy, just following her." He noted.

Steve and Danny stared at each other, as if both coming to the same conclusion. Crystal had been raped, Jenna had been hit, two forms of horrible crimes committed to women by adult men. Not to mention the whole bit abut "Setting them free". It was clear they were starting to wonder whether or not this homeless boy was killing people who were being mistreated. "Thank you, Mr. Richards, you don't know how big of a help you've been." Danny spoke for them both "You're free to go." He added.

"I'm not in trouble for-?"

"There were never any domestic abuse charges, so no." Steve shook his head "But we need you to leave, alright? We have a job to do now." He added "We'll be in touch if we need you for anything."

Matthew nodded his head a bit, and stood up, making his way for the door. Steve shook his head, cursing under his breath. They now knew why Ted was doing this, or at least had a very good idea as to the reason. But unfortunately for them, they had no clue how to figure out who his next victim would be if they were right. "My God, he's killing people who he thinks society failed, just like him." Steve noted "Crystal was raped and Jenna was hit..." He breathed.

"So what this guy goes out LOOKING for people who are wronged by society?" Danny asked, confused.

"Sounds like that to me, what about you?" Steve asked.

Danny nodded in agreement, trying to keep his cool, this was without a doubt a very disturbed kid. He looked off to the side a bit, a thoughtful look on his face for a moment before he stared at Steve. "That could mean he has a double-motive for killing Ben." Steve stared at him, confused "Not only did he witness the murder, but Ben is a kid who is-was on the streets for four years." He stated slowly "He could see that as being wronged by society." He explained.

And suddenly, Steve realized, this whole case could become much more personal, and a whole lot more dangerous. "So even though Ben told us... He'll still be after him." He muttered, shaking his head "That's not good, that's not good at all." He commented, in a state of mental panic.

The stakes had just been raised further then he had ever begun to imagine.


	10. Parental Paranoia

****A/N: Wow 40 reviews already! I want to thank everyone following this story. You guys are great and have really made me feel welcomed back into this fandom. :) Thank you so much.

...

**CHAPTER 10  
>Parental Paranoia<strong>

The walk to the Five-0 headquarters had been a relatively easy one for Ben, not to his surprise. Making his way into the office, he sighed a bit. Steve and Danny were nowhere to be found, but he quickly noticed Chin and Kono hanging out near the table. "Hey guys." Ben smiled a bit, a little more comfortable around the team now "Where are Steve and Danno?" He asked.

"Patrol, Steve was hoping to get back before you did, guess that isn't happening." Chin grinned a little, Ben shrugged, setting his backpack "So tell us, little brotha, how's school go?" He asked, eyeing him a bit "Though going by that grin on your face, it couldn't have been TOO bad." He noted.

Ben shrugged a bit, in truth had been about what he'd suspected. Nothing too horrible, but at the same time, he'd have rather spent the time with the team. It was odd, but over the last week he'd gotten to know them all a bit better than he did. Whereas at one time he'd been timid around them, he now enjoyed spending time with them. "It was okay, I guess. I didn't meet a lot of people, but I wasn't like tormented or anything." He took a deep breath "Really, it was pretty boring." He explained.

"Well, no one said you went to school for entertainment, unfortunately." Kono laughed a little, she shook her head a little "At least you didn't get bullied or anything. I can only imagine how Steve would react to that." She muttered "He's been uptight as is all morning." She admitted.

"I noticed." Ben replied with a grin.

Ben felt firm arms pull him into a hug no more than a moment later. Grinning up at Steve, who smiled down at him, his eyebrows lifted. "I wasn't the only one uptight, kiddo. I seem to remember you weren't exactly "relaxed" either." Ben chuckled quietly, leaning into the hug "Glad to hear it went well, though." He added, letting him go after a moment "I shouldn't expect any girls coming by the house though, right?" He asked.

"Look at him, he isn't even his legal guardian yet and he's already worried about girls." Danny teased as he entered, rolling his eyes a bit "I don't know whether to be proud of disturbed." He added.

Ben could only barely hold back laughter at that quip. Steve only shot Danny a bit of a glare at that one. Ben was quick to note there was still tension in Steve, but unknowing of the new revelation about Ted, didn't inquire into why he was so tense. "Ben, do you mind entertaining yourself for a bit?" Steve asked, not wanting him around to hear what they'd learned "Get some homework done maybe?" He asked.

"Uh, sure. I'll just be in your office."

Ben stared at Steve, a little confused, but still exited the room, and headed towards Steve's office slowly. Steve sighed a bit, looking at the team slowly. "So, the patrol gave us nothing. None of his known acquaintances have seen Ted for WEEKS." He shook his head a bit "And with so many people being hurt in various ways every day? Finding out who's next is close to impossible." He added.

"Not necessarily." Kono spoke up "Where does Ted frequent the most? Because let's face it, he needs a vantage point to see these people from." She explained.

Steve blinked a bit, how had he _not_ thought of that? It was a good point, he had to be noticing them from somewhere. He had three spots he frequented, Ben's alleyway being one of them, the most frequented. "It's the alley... I mean, we can't prove that Jenna went by there. But Crystal definitely did." Steve explained, he shook his head "He lived around there with Ben, he 'took care of him'. So clearly, that might be where he's seeing these people." He then added "It's in a residential area, after all." He explained.

"So this guy spies on his 'neighbors'. But when nothing goes on nearby, he goes hunting." Chin looked up, Steve nodded "Hence, why he found Jenna and killed her. " He explained.

"Or he's just switching venues. By now, he knows that he's being investigated." Danny shook his head a bit, he took a deep breath "Think of it this way, Ben got away. He might have heard him on the pay phone..." He tried to keep his calm "This guy's trying to make himself hard to find, and hard to pinpoint. His next strike could probably be ANYWHERE." He stated, keeping as calm as he could.

Steve only nodded in agreement, Danny was right. He was trying to throw them off of his trail, and unfortunately he was succeeding. He sighed, and peered out the glass walls towards Ben who appeared to be doing homework at the moment. The longer that Ted was out there, the bigger chance he had of finding out Ben was alive, and the better the chance he might hurt him. "Look, I say we take the rest of the day off, we've been working our asses off on this. Take the rest of the day off guys." He shook his head "We need it." He added.

He didn't care how obviously worried he looked as he left the room. Steve couldn't help it, he had never had so much trouble finding a suspect before and it made him concerned, very much so in fact. What if they never caught him? What if the rest of Ben's life was spent in fear? Steve sighed, that wasn't going to happen, he told himself. Steve McGarrett always got his man, and this time would be no different, especially with what was at stake.

...

Steve had only had his house broken into once in his life, but even then he knew when to recognize it happening. The sound he heard from downstairs was subtle, but loud enough for him to sit up in bed at once, and grab his gun. It had been a small thud, but the thud had been accompanied by shuffling, and the shuffling accompanied by whispering. He was as quiet as he could be as he stepped out of his room, slowly making his way down the hall, he carefully peered into Ben's room, which he no longer could call the Guest Bedroom.

What had once been the guest bedroom was now made up for the thirteen year old. A new bed that featured a more boy-aimed pattern, yet still with a Hawaiian theme covered the boy's body calmly. There was a desk in the corner, a bookshelf, and a laptop, just in case. There were a few posters too, but not many, they'd only put together his now room a couple of days ago, so it wasn't totally made up yet. Carefully, he stepped into the room, crouching low, he was soon satisfied Ben was sound asleep, and unharmed.

The sound itself stopped, to which Steve relaxed, and planted a kiss onto the sleeping boy's head. He was still learning, but he had made a habit of doing that if he ever entered his bedroom late at night. The second thud got his attention, but he quickly realized it wasn't inside the house, it was outside. He sighed, no wonder the alarm hadn't been tripped. Making his way out of the room, and carefully closing the door as quietly as he could, he made his way downstairs. With a flick of the lightswitch, he quickly saw the hooded figure outside.

He didn't ned for the figure to turn, but he did, yet the he, Steve realized, wasn't a he. And the "he" had just dropped a purse for the second time. Steve tilted his head a bit, relaxed the gun, and stepped towards the front door, opening it. "Mary, what the hell are you DOING here at this time of night?" Steve muttered, his sister looked him in the eyes slowly "I got a kid sleeping upstairs." He added.

Mary-Ann McGarrett stared at her brother, and frowned a bit. "Aw, crap, I'd forgotten about Ben. I'm sorry, my flight out of her just got grounded until morning. I was hoping to crash." Mary chewed her lip slightly "Any room for me in the second guest bedroom?" She asked.

Steve sighed, this wasn't the first time his now-Flight Attendant sister had done this. But it was the first time she'd nearly given him a heart attack with her presence, though he couldn't exactly help it. "It's just the Guest Bedroom now." Steve corrected "I got temporary custody of him as of Monday. So we've converted the other into Ben's room." He added.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Mary asked.

Steve sighed a bit, but nodded his head and let her in. "Just don't make too much noise, alright? Ben's had trouble with nightmares lately. He needs the sleep." He noted, Mary nodded her head, and gave a thumbs up "I'm actually kinda glad you're here, I could use an extra pair of eyes to help my paranoia tonight." He admitted.

Mary raised an eyebrow, confused, and concerned. Her brother was hardly ever paranoid and it was beyond strange to see him admit it on top of that. "Mind filling me in on what's going on?" Mary asked quietly, she pointed upward "Does it-?" She began.

"Sometime when it's not three in the morning, Mary." Steve muttered.

As Mary simply headed for the first floor guest bedroom, he was quick to double check his security system. Even if this one was a false alarm, the next time, he might not be so lucky. Taking a deep breath, and slowly relaxing his body, Steve cursed himself for his paranoia. Ted didn't even know Ben was living here, or even knew who he was for that matter, everything would be fine. Even so, he watched the night air quietly, he too it in slowly, yet made himself pull away a few seconds later to get some sleep himself.

Everything would be fine tonight, at least, he tried to convince himself of that.

...

A/N: I figured that Steve should have his first at-home scare with a kid in the house. LOL But I didn't want it to be totally serious. Hope it was good enough, at least.


	11. The Thing About Love

**CHAPTER 11  
>The Thing About Love<strong>

Steve called in that morning to give the team the morning off. Not that they didn't already need it, but he knew Mary was going to bug him until he talked about what was bugging him. This way, he killed two birds with one stone and made his life easier. Mary had, of course, been told a snow storm at wherever the flight she was supposed to be on was going to would keep them grounded for the day. Which meant he had no way of getting around talking to her about it, much to his slight dismay. All he knew was thank God Ben had started on a Friday, so he could talk to Mary without him rushing downstairs to get a ride to school.

"Alright, so... What's bugging you, Steve?" Mary asked as Steve seated himself on the couch, holding a cup of coffee "Did Catherine break up with you after finding out you were taking in a kid or something?" She asked.

Steve smiled, and shook his head slightly. "Nah, nothing like that. I talked to her before everything became official, she said she's totally cool with it. And that she can't wait to meet him." Steve replied, he smiled a little bit "We always wanted a family anyway. And ever since we found out I can't have kids, well... Ben's our best option if everything works out." He admitted.

"Wait a minute, you're infertile?" Mary asked.

"Yeah, Catherine and I were talking about trying once she got back to the Islands." Steve was silent for a moment "But when I visited a doctor to make sure it was possible, he told me I wouldn't be able to have kids. Trying would be a waste, basically." He sighed inwardly, then looked up a bit "I like to think that Ben may have been the answer to that." He added.

"I'm surprised you even want a kid, what with you-know-who still on the prowl." Mary admitted.

Steve knew she meant Wo Fat, but was surprised she'd even bring it up. He knew there was that danger, sure, he couldn't just ignore it completely. But he wasn't going to let the man dominate his decisions in his life. "Wo Fat doesn't dominate my decisions. If he wants to make a strike at Ben, I'll put a bullet through his skull." He shook his head a bit "I'm way more concerned about his brother. I actually feel sorry for him, in a way." He admitted.

"Why would you feel sorry for a murderer?"

Steve rubbed his forehead, that wasn't an easy question to answer. The kid hadn't just woken up one day and decided to kill, everything pointed to that society had brought him to this point, and taken its toll. "The kid has a warped sense of justice from the streets. I know it isn't uncommon, but God, what kind of life did he have to have HAD to get that way?" Steve asked quietly, he shook his head "I mean, Ben probably went through the same thing, but he's so normal." He added.

"Maybe because, unlike Ben. He hasn't met someone who showed him kindness... And who loves him?" Mary replied, Steve stared at her blankly at that last part "Oh please, Steve. Two weeks in and the first thing you thought of when you thought someone was breaking in was about him." Steve smiled slightly "He's stolen your heart like some street urchin in a cheesy Disney film." She added.

"You know me WAY too well." Steve grinned a bit, sipping his coffee "I guess it has gotten to that level. I didn't think it was even possible, y'know? But something about that kid." He shook his head a bit "I know I'm going to sound completely insane. But even when I first met him, something just told me there was something about him. Like, I don't know..." He shook his head "It's hard to describe, really." He explained.

"Oh I think I have a few ideas." Mary replied, she smiled a bit "I just don't think I can picture you totally as a Father." She admitted.

Steve smirked, he wasn't sure he could get used to that either, even if he was doing pretty good at it. "Yeah, well. If you want the truth, I do love that kid. And even if it is weird to think about." Steve shrugged his shoulders "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he's mine. Even if I have to fight Social Services." Mary chuckled a little "I just hope I really am doing the right thing by doing it." He added, quietly.

Unseen by either one, Ben was seated on the stairs quietly, listening to every word they said. He wasn't even sure how he might have reacted if he had been in there, but Steve's words had really hit home. He had almost forgotten how good it felt to know you were loved by someone, even if a part of him wondered how truthful Steve's words were. But when he really thought about it, he knew that Steve was telling the truth. He'd grown up for so long thinking that anyone who worked with the police, even Five-0 was just bad news.

But that couldn't be said for Steve, Chin, Danny, or Kono, he realized. They were like a family to him, something he'd missed more than he was willing to admit. The feeling of belonging that he now had with them. "Hey bud." Ben's head shot up as Steve's voice carried into the hallway "Come on in here, there's someone I want you to meet." He said with a broad smile.

Ben felt a certain level of nervousness, knowing who Mary was. But he slowly rose to his feet, making his way towards the room, he seated himself closely to Steve. He must have noticed his nervousness, as he gently wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Ben Davenport, I'd like you to meet my sister, Mary-Ann McGarrett." Steve stated, continuing to smile "Mary, this is Ben." He noted.

As Mary held out a hand, Ben hesitated for a shot moment, but slowly reached out and took it. The handshake was slow, and Ben was visibly very nervous, but he gave a shy smile. Mary settled for smiling back, and nodding. "It's great to finally meet you, Ben. Steve's told me A LOT about you over the phone." Ben felt himself blush slightly "Feel free to call me Aunt Mary, if you'd like." She added.

"Alright." Ben stated, quietly.

"Come on, kid, lighten up a bit. This is family, no shyness." Steve tried to coax him into a bit more liveliness with a gently tickle to his side, earning a giggle "I know you have more life in you than THAT." He grinned.

Ben smiled, he leaned against Steve, still a little tired, but smiling in Mary's direction. He knew that Steve was right, he had more life in him than this, even when he was nervous. "Sorry, I'm not good around new people." Ben admitted, he took a deep breath "Steve's told me a lot about you too. I'm glad to finally get the chance to meet you." He stated, then looked at her "I hope Steve's said all good things." He added.

"Well the fact he doesn't shut up about you should be a good indication." Mary got a quiet laugh out of Ben for that one "I hope you're giving my big brother a hard time, because believe me, it's always more fun that way." An even louder laugh escaped Ben that time, Steve simply looked VERY unamused "Oh lighten up, Steve, I'm your little sister, I'm SUPPOSED to encourage that kind of behavior in my future nephew." She explained.

"Just so you know, when YOU have kids, you're getting this back. Ten-fold." Steve smirked.

Ben watched as the two argued, extremely amused by this point. He wondered if this was how more loving siblings actually acted, he'd never know that. He'd always felt resented by his brother, and now he was more than sure that he was. "I'm going to grab a coffee myself. Be right back." Mary noted as she stood up and left.

Ben turned to Steve, he wasn't sure how to approach the next thing he did. But he slowly rested his head against Steve again, who looked down at him. "I hope I'm worth your love." Ben whispered, he looked at the ground quietly "I mean, I heard you and Mary talking..." Steve stared at him, smiling a bit "I don't get why you'd want to love ME. I mean, even if you can't have kids there have to be better ones out there than ME."

Steve was gentle as he moved a finger under his chin, and gently lifted it to look at him. "If I wanted a different kid? I would have handed you over to Danno, or Social Services." Steve told him, very calmly "You're a good kid, no matter what you think of yourself. And I'm proud to be your guardian, and to say I love you." He added, very firmly "I want you to stop putting yourself down so much, alright? You've already earned my love, or you wouldn't have it." He explained.

That's when Steve felt an odd sensation, Ben had actually hugged him, tightly. The Navy SEAL didn't feel it really, being he was quite strong, but he liked the sensation. Stroking his head, and kissing it gently, he pulled Ben close. He figured this was why cops didn't want to get attached at all, because in two weeks he'd already come to this conclusion. "Thank you." Ben muttered.

It wasn't an "I love you" back, but Steve knew that would be a while coming. He was willing to wait on Ben's getting used to it, to the love, to other things. Admittedly, he really hoped he'd get custody of him so that he'd see the day where he called him "Dad". He peered up, and noticed that Mary was quietly watching him, a smile on her face. Inside, she had a feeling Steve wouldn't make a half bad Dad after all.


	12. Natural Talent

**CHAPTER 12  
>Natural Talent<strong>

To say that Ben was nervous about surfing would have been an understatement. Of course, he knew that Steve wouldn't be handing him over to someone who couldn't handle him, after all, he couldn't swim. He knew the basics though, and Steve said that would at the very least be enough. The man, Malmo, had apparently taught Steve to surf when he was younger, and knowing how good a surfer he was, Ben had a feeling he might stand a chance. When Ben questioned why he had said no to Kono's offer, Steve had pretty much told him that it felt right to have "his kid" taught by the man who taught him.

Ben simply stared outside the window quietly, watching the scenery move by. Steve had been basically told flat out to take a few days off to relieve him of his stress which was the only reason they were even doing this. But Ben still felt a bit bad that he was spending the two days he got off for basically working without sleep on the case with the person who started his stress. Of course, Steve apparently loved him, but that didn't mean he couldn't and wouldn't feel quite bad about it. The surf shop came into his line of vision slowly, and so did the man that came out to greet him.

The man was a rather large man, tall, Hawaiian, with a friendly smile and demeanor. Ben could only guess that the man was Malmo, as Steve pulled to a stop in front of the shop. Ben slowly climbed out, a little nervous, but still letting Steve lead him over with his hands on his shoulder. "Malmo, thanks for meeting us." Steve smiled a bit, removing his hands from Ben's shoulders to give Malmo a man hug "I'd like you to meet my Foster Son, Ben." Steve nodded.

Ben shyly waved at Malmo, who smiled widely, and held out a hand. Ben slowly reached forward and shook it slowly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ben." Malmo stated, very friendly in the way he said it "Steve tells me you don't know how to swim?" He asked, Ben nodded his head "Don't worry about it. That's why we have tether. We won't go out TOO far, all you'll need to do is paddle." He added "Steve went over the basics of that, I'm sure." He added.

"Yeah, but only on land." Ben replied.

"That's the best way to do it, little brotha." Malmo nodded his head a bit, putting a hand on his shoulder "Don't be scared, either, alright? I'll be out there with you, you won't drown, you won't get hurt." He turned to Steve at that, and then added "You gonna ride out with us too, Steve? I noticed you had your board over there." He nodded.

"I figured it might make Ben more comfortable if I did." Steve explained "Hope you don't mind." He added.

Ben visibly relaxed after Steve had said that, his shy nature had gotten the better of him. He didn't know Molmo, he didn't know how he worked, but he did know Steve and trusted he'd be safe out there with him. "No problem at all, I see how it is. Shy, are you?" He asked Ben, who looked at Molmo, and nodded "Don't worry, we'll break you of that. Steve was the same way when he first came to me." He added.

Steve? Nervous? Shy? Ben tried to even begin to fit that all into one sentence, but quickly failed. Steve didn't even begin to strike him as the shy type, he was so comfortable in his own skin. "Suit up, Ben." Steve tossed him a wet suit calmly "I'm heading out now, but I'll be right out there with you. Don't even worry, alright? You've got a great teacher here." He added.

Ben almost didn't want Steve to leave, not yet anyway. But he watched him leave anyway as he carefully put on the wetsuit. Malmo was out with a surfboard seconds later. Ben had never seen something as big as it was in his entire life. It was bigger than him, at the very least, much bigger. "Well then." Molmo planted the surfboard into the sand "Are you ready to get started?" He asked.

Ben wasn't sure he had a coherent answer.

...

At first, Steve had thought the screaming had been out of fear. He sighed a bit, sitting up on his board, he turned it slowly. Only to receive the surprise of his life. There was Ben alright, screaming at the top of his lungs, HAPPILY. The wave he was riding wasn't huge, but it was decent, and to Steve's shock he was _really _riding it. His jaw dropped slightly as he paddled towards Molmo, he stared after Ben, then back at his old friend. "What try was that?" Steve asked as he applauded as he reached the shore "Third? Fourth?" He asked.

"First." Molmo said, he seemed stunned himself "That kid's a natural, all I told him was to paddle and stand. He did it like it was nothing." Steve blinked, completely stunned into silence "That's somethin' else, I've only seen a few stand up and ride it in on their first go-around." He looked Steve in the eyes "He must have the DNA of a surfer in him to be that natural." He added.

"Maybe, never thought to ask what his parents did." Steve admitted.

Molmo nodded his head a bit as Steve racked his brain for any pro surfer's with the last name Davenport. In the end, no one came to mind, and he could only wonder if that meant the kid was just that good. "Then again, some kids are born with a natural talent. For some it's baseball or basketball... Maybe his is surfing." Molmo shrugged a bit as Ben began to paddle back "What a great ride! You sure you don't have surfing in your blood?" He asked.

Ben came to a stop near them, he paused a bit. "My Dad used to surf, but just for fun. Nothing professional if that's what you mean." Ben shrugged his shoulders "That's why he took us down here a lot. Where we lived, there wasn't much room to surf." He admitted, Molmo nodded his head in understanding "Why, was I that good?" He asked.

"Ben, I'm not just saying this as your parental figure. But you were _really_ good." Steve smiled widely, he reached forward, and stroked Ben's hair fondly "Think you can do that one more time so I can watch the whole thing?" He asked.

Ben grinned a little, and looked at Molmo for a minute. The man nodded his head, in encouragement, as it was pretty clear Ben was uncertain of himself in this case. Ben grinned a bit, and nodded at Steve. Steve watched quietly as Molmo worked to set Ben up for his next wave. This one was bigger, and for a moment, it looked as though Ben was going to fall off. But the moment he caught his balance, he was once again easily riding it, it was still a little rough, there was no denying that, but Ben was definitely quite good.

Ben didn't make it all the way there this time, but still had a long ride. After coming up for air, Ben was coughing a bit, Steve grinned. Ben simply stared back at them, glaring a bit at their chuckles. "What is so funny, dude, that really hurt!" Ben groaned.

"You'll get used to it, Ben." Molmo encouraged "Come back out, let's try again, shall we?"

Ben smirked a bit, even if that had hurt, he wanted to go again. Slowly, he pulled himself onto the board, and yet again started to paddle back. He definitely wanted to do that again, even if it menat that he would wipe out yet again.

...

By the end of the day, Ben and Steve were both surprisingly wiped. Ben moreso than Steve, he fiddled with the ice cream cone of Lappret's Ice Cream in one hand, eating it. His head, on the other hand was gently rested against Steve's shoulder. Steve smiled a bit, looking out towards the sunset. "I have to say kid, you're quite good." Steve grinned a bit as Ben finished off the cone "You sure your Dad only did it for fun?" He asked.

Ben shrugged his shoulders, looking at Steve slowly. "If he did it professionally, he never told me." Ben admitted quietly, a soft yawn escaping his lips "Then again, you kinda have to be exaggerating to spare my feelings, right?" He asked, curiously "I mean I wasn't-" He began.

"Kid, you wiped out twice all day. You were REALLY good." Steve put an arm around Ben "You really had me impressed, like honestly. I wasn't even that good when I first tried." Ben felt himself blush slightly "What did I tell you about selling yourself so short?" He asked.

Ben shook his head a little, knowing that Steve would lecture him otherwise. He took a deep breath, and leaned further against him. "I shouldn't. I know, and I'm going to try, but it isn't easy." Ben shrugged his shoulders "You have no idea how hard it is to do that. After you get all those stares out on the streets, it's not easy." He explained.

Steve nodded his head, he could definitely understand that one. He heard the phone ringing slowly, and sighed, one night, just one night. He slowly reached into his pocket and answered. "Danno, what is it?" Steve asked quietly.

"We got an attempted homicide here. This one got away." Steve's eyes widened as Danny's words rang through his ears "I don't know if you want to come in. But Steve, he may be able to help us." He explained.

Steve nodded his head slightly, standing up, Ben getting up as well. He stared off a bit. "I'll be right there." Steve hung up his phone, and turned to Ben "We have a lead, a MAJOR one." Ben's eyes widened in surprise as Steve nodded to him "Come on, let's go. Sorry to cut this short, but it's important." He added.

Ben nodded his head and followed after Steve in a hurry. Neither noticed a figure nearby, hidden by the shadows, and watching them. The figure slowly backed up into the shadows, disappearing as quickly as they had appeared. But not before shooting one more dark glance their way.


	13. Danger Zone

**CHAPTER 13  
>Danger Zone<strong>

Ben relaxed himself against the couch in Steve's office, sighing quietly as he stared up at the ceiling. He actually felt a little disappointed that their day together had been cut short, and for Ben that was very, _very_ new. It may have been painfully obvious, but Ben didn't get used to people easily. He struggled, more often than not, to get used to people, let alone trust him. So how in the world had Steve started to break through his shell? Make him want to spend time with him, make him want to work to make him proud? Heck, he'd started to really like the rest of the team too.

Normally, he would have run, run and never looked back when Steve had said he'd loved him. Love lead to pain, pain led to loneliness, or at least, that's what he had learned, or thought he'd learned. But there hadn't been any pain yet, Steve hadn't hurt him in any way. He'd offered him a home, given him his own room, he'd gotten him into school, and cared about him getting a proper education. He hadn't treated him like the wounded puppy way too many people had regarded him as over the course of his relatively short life.

He almost couldn't believe he was thinking it, but he really did feel loved. The door to the office opened slowly, he turned to see Steve enter the office calmly. "The witness isn't out of the hospital yet." Steve told him glumly "It'll be at least a few hours, bud. So we're going to be here overnight I think." He noted, Ben nodded his head in response "I'm going to get you a blanket and pillow, alright?" He asked.

"Wouldn't it be easier to take me home?" Ben asked.

"Not exactly, if there's even a slight chance your brother knows you're alive..." Steve paused for a moment, and sighed "It's just too risky. It's just one night and the couch is very comfortable." Steve seated himself down, and sighed a bit "It won't be like this forever, honest. Just until we have your brother caught. Then, things should get normal." Ben nodded his head a bit, understanding "You okay, small fry?" He asked.

Ben looked up at Steve, he chewed his lip slightly, and looked to the side. "I just hope you guys find him soon is all. That's FOUR people, and..." Ben was silent for a moment "He's apparently that dangerous. It scares me a little and I don't want anyone else hurt." He admitted, he shook his head a little "Even if it means I loose my last blood relation, I don't care." He admitted.

"Who needs blood relations when you have me?" Steve noted, he stroked his cheek slightly "Blood only goes so far, after all." He noted as he kissed the top of his head gently "Now I'm going to get that blanket and pillow. Alright? You try to get some sleep if possible. It's already ten." He explained, looking at his watch "Your bedtime was an hour ago." He explained.

"But Steve-"

"Ben, if I need you awake I'll let you know." Steve replied, Ben frowned a bit "Just get some sleep, kiddo. You've had a big day today, your body is probably EXHAUSTED." He knew that surfing could do that to a person "Love you, kiddo." He added "Sweet dreams." He added.

Ben hesitated for a moment, but as he laid his head against the couch, slowly breathed out the words. "Love you too."

Steve had to double-take at the words, but still, felt a rare smile pull against his lips. He hadn't expected it so soon, but he hadn't expected a lot of things to come so soon, in all honesty. He didn't expect Ben to come into his life, he hadn't expected to come to love him, and he sure as hell didn't expect being a Father to come so... Well, naturally. He left the room slowly, coming back in a few moments with a large blanket and pillow. Ben was out cold, softly snoring in a way that he could only barely hear it.

Gently setting the couch up like a makeshift bed, Steve sat on the couch for a moment, quietly. The silence of the moment gave him the chance to really think over everything. His nerves were still there, and he could feel them, but for now, he knew he was ready to accept the challenge. Ben's response that night had sealed the deal. "Steve?" Steve stared up at Chin's voice "There's a phone call you're going to want to hear."

Steve was on his feet at once, exiting the room with Chin. "What's going on?" Steve asked, all Chin did was hand Steve the phone slowly. "This is Commander McGarrett." He stated.

"Good, then I've got the right man." The voice on the other end sent a chill up Steve's spine, his lips pursed "Listen up, I know you probably think this is ALL about my brother, don't you?" Steve's eyes narrowed, knowing full well the man was Ted now "Steve, Steve, Steve... You idiot." He added coldly "This is more than just about my brother, A LOT more. You see, we have a history." Steve's eyes grew in confusion.

"I'm sorry, but I've never met a TED DAVENPORT." Steve said flatly.

Chin was quick to make his way to the table, getting the hint and quickly tapping into Steve's phone line. "Steve, Steve, Steve. I'm VERY disappointed in you, we've crossed paths before and if you weren't so single-minded... You'd know by now." Steve shook his head a bit "I did this hoping that you'd get the case. Don't you get it? It's all about YOU." He then added flatly "I couldn't have asked for a better turn of events then my brother seeing what I did and going to YOU." He added.

"Who the hell _are_ you?" Steve asked, confused, and now, most of all, frustrated.

"The person YOU wronged." Steve looked more than confused now "You're the reason I'm even DOING this McGarrett. This is nine years of pent-up rage. I sat by and watched other people wronged, just like you wronged me... Not anymore. I'm going to end their suffering, and believe me, I'm going to start YOURS." There was a brief pause, and then the word that stuck with McGarrett the most, the word that sent a chill up his spine "SIR."

The inflection in the voice was hauntingly familiar, and stuck with him long after Ted had hung up. "I want. EVERY alias Ted Davenport may have had." Steve stated as he made his way inside of the room "Christ, it can't be him, it can't be him." Steve muttered under his breath.

Chin quickly brought up Ted's profile, opening up a list of known aliases quickly. He went down the list, and Steve found the one he was looking for at once: TED STRIKER. Steve's eyes widened, his stomach turning over in knots, he backed up slowly. Then turned his head slowly towards his office, to Ben. He couldn't be this guy's brother, he was nothing like him, he couldn't be. Steve turned to the screen again, Chin simply stared at him. "Steve, brotha? Do you know this guy?" He asked.

"Know him..." Steve breathed "Back in the Navy, I TRAINED him."

If a pin had dropped in the room, it could have been heard a mile away at that point. Danny who had been silent for a moment, stood up and stared at Steve. "Hold on here, you TRAINED Ben's brother?" Steve nodded his head slowly, nearly having a heart attack "This guy is a Navy Seal?" He asked.

"Naval Officer, he was in training to join the Seals." Steve shook his head slowly "But about two years into training... He was discharged due to fraud. Can you guess why?" Danny already had several ideas "The guy was insane, EXTREMELY insane. Anytime anyone would say or do ANYTHING he disliked... He pretty much went APESHIT." He explained.

"And you never noticed he was under an alias?" Danny asked.

"Not until he was discharged, they never told me his real name. We definitely found out then." Steve shook his head slightly "One day he literally SHOT and nearly killed an officer. He begged me not to tell anyone. But... I had to, he was clearly way too dangerous." He paused quietly, rubbing his forehead "He told me he'd never forgive me. But I just saw it as him blowing off hot steam... Being on the streets must have just made him WORSE." He explained.

"Chin, please tell me we got a trace on him." Danny said, now even more panicked then before.

Chin shook his head slowly, frowning. "Disposable cell phone. Even if I wanted to, I can't." Chin cursed under his breath, then looked Steve in the eyes "How dangerous of a creep are we talking?" He asked.

Steve was silent for a moment, thinking back to the twenty-one year old he'd met. When he added nine years to that, when he imagined him being now thirty years old. He closed his eyes, he didn't even want to begin to imagine that. "Now that he's already thirty years old? God, Chin, he was bad enough at twenty-one. Adding thirty years to that? I can't even begin to think about it." He took a deep breath "We need to find him and we need to find him SOON. Because if he has a grudge towards me this bad... No way will he stick to his MO." He stated.

"Whoa, wait, what do you mean?" Danny asked, as he turned to Steve.

Steve closed his eyes, he stared down at the table, shaking his head. "He's going to go after someone we're close to. And he'll go after where he knows it will hit me hardest." Steve looked at Danny "I don't know who, I don't know when. I don't even know if he'll kill them." He was dead silent "All I know is that if we don't catch him soon, knowing him. He's going to do something REALLY stupid." He added.

Steve was pretty sure he'd never been in the room when it was so silent, or when the team was so visibly tense.

...

A/N: Ahhh, twists are so much fun aren't they? I hadn't originally intended this. But I thought it might be more fun to make Ted a serious adversary to Steve. As he's the antagonist of the story. :)


	14. The Truth of the Matter

QTO5: I see what you mean, I hope that this chapter I've written to kind of pull it all together will help a bit. :) Thank you very much for pointing this out to me, I didn't realize it kinda screwed up my established timeline. Definitely a huge help. :)

...

**CHAPTER 14  
><strong>**The Truth of the Matter**

Steve knew his frustration was getting the better of him, but he didn't care. Every ounce of intensity, every feeling of stress had been well-earned. It wasn't just that either, it was anger, towards Ted more than anything else. How could he have just left Ben to fend for himself? Mooching off his parents after his discharge, not getting a job? That he could believe, he didn't need Ben to explain any of that to him. He knew how Ted worked, and it made it easily obvious to figure out. What he didn't get was what he had done to Ben, what he had put him through.

For pete's sake, he'd found the kid half-starving without a good meal for a week. Steve sighed, he knew Ted was on the verge of doing something stupid on top of his anger, and that left the question as to what, and who. The obvious answer stared him right in the face, the young boy sleeping against the couch quietly. If Ted really wanted to make a strike at Steve, he woud use Ben, and he never once doubted that. Sure, Ben had probably been nothing more than a pain before, someone Ted was obligated to "look after", but now? Ben was useful to him.

And Ben trusted him _just _enough that Steve knew Ted could manipulate him if he wanted to. He sighed, half-asleep at his desk with the rays of the morning sun peeking through his window. Ben was already shifting awake, rubbing his eyes tiredly. The boy looked up at Steve, who tried his best to act as calm as he could. Ben of course, the smart punk he could be, took notice immediately. "Have you been up all night?" Ben asked quietly.

"I haven't slept a wink, no." Steve muttered, he looked at Ben slowly "Your brother called last night." Ben's color flushed from his face as Steve looked at him square in the eyes "Ben, I know who your brother is, I trained him..." The boy turned his head away, biting his lip "Did you know that-" He began.

Ben looked at Steve slowly, he stood up, and shook his head. "I knew he was in the Navy like years ago. But something happened and they kicked him out." Ben tried to remember back a bit "That's when he came here, I think, actually." Steve nodded, so Ted hadn't mooched, but that left other questions unanswered "He basically refused my parents help... Probably how he ended up on the streets." He shook his head a bit.

In his head, Steve added the puzzle pieces up, piece-by-piece, and stared at Ben in surprise. "That's why you were in Hawaii four years ago?" Ben nodded his head a bit, Steve chewed him lip "More than your Dad's surfing then, eh?" Ben was silent, and Steve stared at him slowly "Ben..." He turned his head slowly "What really happened to your parents?" He asked.

"They were hit by a-"

"Ben..." Steve leaned forward, Ben simply stared at him "What REALLY happened?"

Ben stared Steve in the eyes for a moment, then stared down. "So you saw the cold case file, I take it? I bet it's in there." Ben muttered, Steve was silent for a moment, but nodded "I don't know... What happened to them. One day when we were out there, Mom and Dad left me in the condo. Told me they were going to try and talk Ted into coming home. They REALLY wanted to help him." He chewed his lip.

"But Ted showed up instead?" Steve asked, Ben nodded his head slowly "You do realize he probably killed them, don't you?"

Ben felt his stomach twist in a knot at the very thought of that. But he knew Steve was probably right now, there was no doubt in his mind Ted killed his parents, their parents. "I know..." He breathed quietly, he turned his head to Steve "When he came, he told me... Mom and Dad were dead. He didn't say how or why. But he gave me the excuse I had to tell the cops." He put his hands in his pockets "I was nine, Steve. That wasn't a red flag to me back then..." He added quietly.

Steve felt his heart sink low into his stomach, Ted had been manipulating his little brother from day one. Ben hadn't been in social services because Ted had basically kidnapped him, and dragged him onto life on the streets. "He made you live on the streets of a town you hardly knew, and didn't even take care of you?" Ben was silent for a moment "Ben, why didn't you-?" He began.

"You don't think I was a LITTLE scared of him?" Ben asked, catching Steve off-guard "I loved my brother, but he'd leave at totally random times. Sometimes for weeks at a time. And he'd come back stained red..." He shook his head "I didn't want to think it was blood. But sometimes the look in his eyes..." He looked up at Steve "Sometimes I just knew it was. But I tried to ignore it, I tried not to think abut it." He added "He never got a job, he actually REFUSED to. But he'd come with this money... I don't know from who or where." He shook his head.

Steve frowned a bit, he had figured Ben's life had been hell. But this, this was well beyond his comprehension. He rubbed his jaw quietly, and looked at Ben slowly, his eyes soft, filled with sympathy. "You mean he's been killing people before this M.O. even started?" Ben nodded his head a bit, and Steve sighed quietly "Ben, you should have gone to the police, to somebody. That's not a life ANYONE should live." He growled a bit "If I hadn't found you, he could have killed you, do you know that?" He asked.

"I do now." Ben's voice was quiet, and forced, clearly pained.

And for the first time, Steve realized that Ben had never been protecting his brother out of love. Yes, Ben had loved his brother, he was a blood relation, it was hard NOT to love a blood relation. But Ben had been protecting his brother out of fear. He was afraid of not only loosing his brother, but of what his brother would do to him if he had told Five-0 about his activities. "Ben... Don't be afraid of him." Ben looked up at Steve, who tried to give the best comforting smile he could manage "You're my boy now, and I trained your brother. I know him way too well." He shook his head "I'm not going to let him hurt you." He added.

"... He's going to come after me to get to you, isn't he?" Ben asked quietly.

Steve's comforting smile turned into a lopsided frown, slowly, he nodded his head. "That's what I think, anyway. He's going to want to strike at me, and he knows I'm caring for you." He took a deep breath "But guess what? I have a gun in the house, and a whole team to back me up. What does he have? A gun, at most?" Ben stared at Steve slowly "He'll never touch you Ben, not even a tap." He made his way over, and put a firm hand on Ben's shoulder "I just want you to know that, alright?" He added.

"I know." Ben smiled as best he could "He was an officer, you're a SEAL. He's pretty much screwed." He said as confidently as he could manage "I'm sorry I never told you this, I just never thought..." He paused a bit "I didn't think it was important." He admitted.

Steve nodded, he definitely understood where Ben was coming from. Ben had no way of knowing that he'd trained his brother, not until now anyway, which made it hard for him to have known to tell him. "At least you told me now, Ben. Because frankly, I need to know these things." He sighed a bit "It makes it easier to find ways to book him in jail for life." He added.

"He can't get an insanity plea?" Ben asked.

"He's at the very least, attempted to kill more than four people according to you." Steve shook his head "With a purpose at that. Not to mention, most likely, your parents." Ben nodded his head slowly "He isn't going to get out of jail, Ben. He's going there for a long time once we catch him." He explained, Ben nodded his head "Now, I've got some clothes, swung by home this morning." He added, patting the clothing on his desk "Get dressed, our new witness should be here any minute, and once I'm done, I'm sending you to a friend's house while I go searching for Ted." He added.

"What friend?" Ben asked, confused.

"Danny's ex-wife, Rachel, his daughter, Grace, and her husband, Stan." Ben nodded his head a bit, looking up at him "They agreed to watch you while I'm out on patrol. Ted would never look for you there, but on the off chance he finds HQ... I don't want to risk him getting to you." He then added "So get dressed, you know where the bathroom is. I put your toothbrush and some toothpaste there too." He explained.

As Steve hugged him tightly in reassurance, and left the room, Ben stood there silently. He reflected back a bit, that was the first time he'd told the full truth to anyone before. And oddly, it felt good, like a weight had been finally lifted off of his chest. Sighing a bit, and grabbing his clothes, he too exited the office, and headed for the nearby bathroom calmly. He just hoped that he really would be safe at the home of Danny's ex-wife.

...

A/N: As implied, Ben and Grace wil finally meet next chapter, or the chapter following! I know one of you guys was interested to see that. :)


	15. One Big Family

A/N: I'm glad I could clear things up for you QT05, and glad everyone thought I did a good job with that!

A/N #2: Sorry for the double post. I felt like I needed a little more at the end of this, too abrupt for me. LOL

...

**CHAPTER 15  
>One Big Family<strong>

Steve almost hesitated to bring Ben to Rachel's place, almost. It wasn't exactly easy, if he was going to be honest, he could be putting them in danger, after all. And had she not agreed to it, he probably wouldn't have even asked further. He had Ben's backpack slumped on his shoulder, knowing he might have homework to get done, and slowly led Ben towards the front door to the house. "Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?" Ben asked as Steve looked at him slowly "That witness didn't know where he was headed and-" He began.

"Ben, you're going to be REALLY safe here. Ted doesn't know this place, and they're good people." Steve told him, putting his hand on Ben's shoulder gently "Besides, these guys are like an extended family. I think it's about time you met them." He explained as he knocked on the door.

Rachel opened the door calmly, smiling a bit at Steve. Of course, she had probably been waiting for them, as Steve had called while they were on their way. "Steve, always a pleasure." She nodded, Ben shifted uneasily "And you, must be Ben. We've heard a lot. Please, come in and make yourself at home." She noted.

Ben bit his lower lip quietly as Steve handed Ben his backpack. Steve sighed, and crouched down a bit, knowing Ben was very tense right now. He couldn't blame him with all that had happened in less than twenty-four hours. "Ben, they really ARE good people." Steve told him, his lips curving into a smile "I know you're scared for me too, but don't be. I can handle myself." Ben looked at Steve quietly, but nodded "I'll be back for you soon." He added.

Ben finally nodded his head, allowing Steve to kiss his forehead gently. "Love you, Ben." Steve added as Ben slowly entered the doorway, Steve stood, and stared at Rachel "Thanks for taking him for the day, Rach. I swear it's only for today at this point. I just don't feel comfortable after that call." He paused for a moment "He has a little homework, so if you could-" He began.

"Steve, relax, alright? We're happy to take him for the day." Rachel told him, trying to calm her friend down "I'll make sure Ben sits down to do this homework as soon as I get Grace to sit down and do hers." She added "I want you to spend one day of patrol relaxing and not worried. Just focus on finding that man, alright?" She patted his shoulder a bit, and then nodded "Now go, and be careful, BOTH of you." She added.

The door was closed in Steve's face in almost a millisecond, and for a moment, he wondered if Rachel even knew what subtle was. Ben on the other hand, watched it with a small chuckle, he'd never expected Steve to be coaxed like that. But boy, this woman seemed to have a way of scaring him, at least. "Hey." Ben's head shot up at the female voice, and stared at the girl whose voice it belonged to "Who are you?" She asked.

"Grace, this is Ben, your Uncle Steve's foster son." Rachel stated before Ben had even opened his mouth "He's going to be staying with us today while Uncle Steve and your Father are on patrol." She stated, then gave a warning glance "I want you to make him feel right at home, alright?" She stated.

Grace only looked up at he Mother and nodded her head slowly. Ben was a little older than her, but he wasn't too much older that they'd have a hard time getting along or hanging out. She grabbed his wrist gently, and nodded her head. "Come on, do you like video games?" Ben perked up at the word, he had only played a handful when he lived with his parents, but he did "Awesome! I just got a new one, I'll show you!" She added.

"I may be a little rusty." Ben admitted quietly.

"So? I'm not that great either! It's still fun!"

Ben grinned a little, he supposed playing a round or two of a video game really could be fun. "Alright, as long as you can teach me how the system works. It's been like four years, I don't think I'll have any idea." Ben admitted, a hint of nerves inside him, he turned to Rachel "Uh, my backpack has my homework... Where can I put it because Steve-" He began.

"Here, I'll put it in the kitchen. Go have fun." Rachel encouraged, Ben handed the backpack to her.

"Thanks!"

Grace quickly pulled Ben up the stairs of the home with her, smiling. Ben most definitely felt a certain level of excitement, a very high level of excitement at that. He didn't normally get excited this easily, but the thought of actually hanging out and playing video games like well... A NORMAL kid for a change really perked him up. He sighed a bit as they entered Grace's bedroom, she sat on her bed, grabbing a PS3 controller, then handed Ben one. "Now the game is easy..." She began.

By the end of the long-winded explanation, Ben already wanted to know what Grace would call a hard game. When they started, Ben found himself dying, repeatedly, not even standing the least bit of a chance either. Yet as they went on, he slowly got better, grinning, actually having fun with it. "So... You live with Uncle Steve?" Grace finally asked, Ben turned to her and nodded "How'd that happen?" She asked.

Ben chewed his lip a bit, a bit nervous about what her response to it might be. "He saved my life." Ben replied, knowing it was the truth in more ways than one "I... Didn't have a home, and he offered me to live in his, to join his family." Ben felt a faint smile cross his lips "So he's decided to adopt me, whenever he can get Social Services out for a home inspection and whatever else." He added.

The sound of crying sounded out and Ben turned his head in surprise. "Is there a baby in the house?" Ben asked.

Grace laughed a little, nodding a bit. "Obviously. My little brother, Charles.. Probably woke up from his nap or whatever." Grace shrugged her shoulders "So... Uncle Steve's kinda your Dad, right?" She asked.

Ben nearly dropped the controller as she said that, as if it had just hit him. Ben had never really thought about that entirely, never looked up at Steve and thought of him as his Dad. But the way he treated him, he looked thoughtfully to the side. "... Yeah, I guess so." Ben finally nodded his head slowly "I haven't actually called him "Dad" or anything, though." He told her quietly.

"What's stopping you?" Grace asked.

Ben didn't care that he'd died three times now in the game, he was actually genuinely deep in thought. She had asked a good question, what WAS stopping him? He took a deep breath, and leaned back against the bed. "I don't know... I really don't know that he'd let me... Not to mention my parents..." Ben closed his eyes slightly "I don't know, I kinda feel like calling Steve anything but "Steve" would be betraying them, y'know?" He asked.

"Why are they-"

"Yeah, they died when I was nine." Ben replied honestly.

Grace looked at him with that look of sympathy, that same look of sympathy Ben was really tired of by now. "Don't feel sorry for me, I had a hard life for a while. But now? I'm pretty happy with my life." Ben spoke the truth there, even though he did have his obvious faults "I've got a bed to sleep in, a roof over my head... A great guy who really loves me is trying to adopt me." He shrugged his shoulders "It's not like I'm still living in a living hell." He explained.

Ben knew that was only half-true, his brother still was on the loose, and that meant he was still nervous. "Yeah, I guess." Grace shrugged "Does that mean you don't have to go to school, either?" She asked.

"No, I'm still stuck in prison." Ben grinned a little.

Grace giggled a little and Ben himself even giggled a little as well, it really was prison, he told himself. All it was was long lectures and food, nothing else for him. He hadn't even told Steve, but even though people were friendly to him, he didn't have friends at school. He wasn't bullied, but he had this feeling that they knew that he had been on the streets, as no one really ever wanted to hang out with him. This was actually the most time he'd spent talking to anyone really around his age since he'd actually left the streets.

But Ben had to smile for that, Grace had just found out he'd not had a home before. But here she was, she was still talking to him, joking with him, being nice. In the back of his mind, he wondered if others would come to accept him the same way too. "Come on, Ben, let's play some more! I still haven't shown you the FUN stuff in Ratchet and Clank, it only gets better!" She encouraged.

Ben grinned widely, he nodded and grabbed his controller again, looking at her. His first real friend in four years, he realized, or at least, that was what he hoped she'd ultimately become if nothing else. "Alright, but you'd better get ready, because I'm gonna actually WIN this time." Ben grinned, Grace turned to him with a small smirk on her own face "I meant it!" He added.

"Bring. It. On."

Yeah, Ben had a feeling they were going to get along just fine.

...

Steve had expected Ben to come bounding out of the house to meet him, he really had. Frankly, he knew Ben was having trouble making friends, he wasn't blind whatsoever. Yet Rachel was the one to answer the door that night. Steve was beat, having still had no luck whatsoever. "Steve, I was just going to call you." Rachel stated, Steve gave a surprised glance at her "Ben and Grace fell asleep playing video games. Stan let him take the Guest Bedroom, he's out like a light." She noted "You may want to have him stay overnight." She added.

Steve smiled a bit, so he and Grace had gotten along after all, that was good. "Well I'm glad to hear that. I might let him stay the night if school wasn't tomorrow. Just so I didn't wake him up." Steve smiled a bit "Thanks for watching him today though, seriously. You relieved me of a lot of stress." He noted.

"Really, it was nothing, we loved having him here. He's welcome back any time." Rachel smiled a bit, then shook her head "After all, he is family now. We're all one big family anyway when you think about it." Steve smiled, he supposed she was right "Come on, I'll take you to the Guest Bedroom." She nodded.

Steve nodded his head and entered, relieved beyond belief. Sure, Ben hadn't had any friends at school yet. But if anything, he did have their one big Five-0 family, including Grace.


	16. Bullies and Dads

**CHAPTER 16  
>Bullies and Dads<strong>

Steve very nearly flipped a lid when Ben walked into the Five-0 offices one morning on his third week in school. Apparently, the problem at school was no longer a problem about having trouble making friends. Now, it was much, MUCH more serious. Ben had a fat lip, and a bruised cheek, nothing too serious, but still, definitely not received by any accident. "What the HELL Happened?" Steve asked, as he led Ben into his office quickly, Ben was silent, a little freaked out by his anger "Ben, don't make me ask you again." He added firmly.

"It was just a couple of punks-" Ben paused a bit, he shook his head "Look Steve, it's nothing, I've been hurt worse." He added.

"It's NOTHING?" Steve stated, trying to keep himself calm "Some little punks decided to beat the crap out of you, that isn't nothing!" Steve shook his head a bit, examining the damage slowly "What are the teachers doing over there?" He growled.

Ben was quickly coming to the conclusion that Steve wasn't mad at him, and soon came to relax. As Steve noticed his slightly bruised eye, he sighed, and carefully reached forward. The touch caused Ben to cringe back, Steve frowned a bit. Ben had never been afraid of his touch before, but he understood, he couldn't imagine that Ted took his beatings on the streets as calmly as Steve had. "Hey, it's okay... I'm only trying to see how bad the damage is." Steve shook his head "I'm going to get you ice and I'm going down there." He muttered.

"Steve, you-"

"Ben, I don't care how bad it was on the streets. Kids can't DO that to you in SCHOOL." Steve shook his head a bit "If only you were in High School, and those little shits were eighteen. I'd love to give them a Navy-style beat down myself." He muttered, he knew he wouldn't anyway, but the comment was out of anger "Which hurts worse, your lip, your cheek, or your eye?" He asked as he moved to grab an ice pack from his mini fridge, Ben pointed at his eye and Steve nodded "Here, put this on it." He told him, handing him the ice pack.

Ben did as Steve said, but with his good eye, looked at him. "You don't have to go down and talk to them." Ben muttered.

"Ben, no matter what my actual status is right now. As far as I'm concerned, you're my SON." The words struck Ben hard, but in a very good way "And I'm telling you ONE thing, no one messes with my family. Especially NOT my kid." He told him firmly, turning to Ben "I'm going to get Danny to watch you, alright? I'll be back soon." He added.

Ben watched Steve leave quietly, almost stunned that Steve had just called him his "son". Ben shifted a bit, it had been a little over a month now since Steve had taken him in, so he hadn't expected that, not so early. Sighing a bit, and taking the ice pack off of his eye once the pain had finally subsided, he took a deep breath. Danny entered not long after, a frown on his face. "Damn, Steve wasn't exaggerating, you look like hell." Ben frowned a bit himself "Oh, and you're bruised too." He teased.

Ben laughed at that, knowing Danny was only trying to lighten the mood a little. "He went down to give the principal hell." Ben laughed lightly, Danny shrugged a little, having figured that much "I'm fine, really, Steve is just overreacting." He muttered.

Danny rolled his eyes, this kid clearly didn't know how parents worked. "Ben, you're gonna learn before too long. That the way Steve was acting was calm, rather than overreacting." Danny chuckled a little "I've seen overreacting and trust me. It's a lot scarier to watch." Ben smirked a bit, he believed that, without much of a doubt "He just doesn't want to see you hurt. And frankly, I don't blame him." He noted, looking at Ben "Those kids nicked you really good, didn't they?" He added.

"I got a few good punches in too." Ben lied.

"Oh yeah, I can tell." Danny's voice was full of sarcasm "You don't have to lie to me bud, I know you better than to believe it anyway at this point." Ben nodded a bit "I'm sure Steve's glad you didn't get a few punches in anyway. You can't solve EVERYTHING with violence." He knew that was a lie, Steve probably would have preferred if he had fought back "Just relax, though. I'm sure that they won't rough you up after Steve's done down there." He added.

"I just feel like a wimp." Ben admitted quietly "I mean I've been on the streets for how long, and I got my ass handed to me." He said quietly, huffing.

Danny sighed a bit, he knew exactly how to make Ben feel better. "Kid, we get our asses kicked too. And we're Five-0." Ben's eyes widened as he looked up "What? You think that just because we're badasses means we can't take a hit too?" Ben only nodded his head slowly, and Danny chuckled "Kid, I could tell you stories you wouldn't believe. About Steve too." He explained.

Ben leaned forward as Danny began to speak, clinging onto every word he said. Needless to say, he would feel much better by the end of the day.

...

Ben probably shouldn't have been up so late, not on a school night. But with his body sore, reading a comic book while laying down on his bed seemed like a good enough activity. He knew that Steve had gone down to the school, and that the kids were suspended, but at the same time, Ben still felt a bit tense. Kids could be cruel, he already knew that, but he'd done nothing to deserve it. Not to mention with two weeks and still no leads to go by, the tension centered around Ted was still there, one that he knew was giving Steve grief.

A knock on his door made him turn his head, speak of the devil, there was the man of the hour. "Hey bud, it's eleven o'clock. You've been up late enough." Steve noted, entering the room as Ben frowned a little "I know you want to stay up late bud, but you have school tomorrow." He added.

Ben sighed a bit, but nodded his head a bit, setting the comic down and letting Steve tuck him in slightly. "Steve... Did you mean what you said today?" Steve tilted his head, unsure as to what he meant "About... Me being your son?" He asked.

Steve smiled a bit, he played with Ben's hair gently, and nodded his head slightly. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he looked at Ben calmly. "Yeah, I did. I know I may not really be your Dad, but..." Steve paused a bit, he looked down a bit "The last month has been really something, kid. Even with all this insanity going on." He added, looking at him slowly.

"Steve..." Ben looked down, he slowly hesitated, but looked at him "Does that mean I can call you "Dad"?" He asked.

Ben wasn't entirely sure what had compelled him to ask something like that. He was betraying his real Dad, he was calling this man his Dad when he was just his guardian. Yet somehow, someway, Ben felt as though it was only right to call Steve his "Dad". Steve was acting the part, he was always there for him, he was his Dad, just like Grace had tried to point out to him. "You can call me whatever you'd like." Ben looked at Steve with wide eyes, stunned by his answer "If you want to call me "Dad", no one's stopping you." He added.

"It... Wouldn't be betraying my real one, would it?" Ben asked.

Steve smiled comfortingly at the boy, it was a realistic fear in his mind. Ben had only lost his parents four years before, and he was worried that accepting someone else as his Father would be a betrayal. "I think they'd want you to be happy enough with somebody to call them that, don't you?" Steve asked, Ben looked thoughtful for a minute, then nodded "You're not betraying them Ben, don't ever think that way." He noted.

Ben let a smile tug at his lips slightly, he hugged Steve tightly. Steve hadn't seen it coming, but still returned it, tightly. "Dad it is then." Ben whispered, it was Steve's turn to smile as Ben started to lay down "Goodnight." He muttered.

"Goodnight, Ben, sweet dreams." Steve noted as he kissed him softly on the head, and switched off the light.

Leaving Ben to his sleep, Steve calmly made his way back downstairs. He still had some files from the case laying out, and knew that he had to put them away before he laid down for sleep himself. He carefully collected them, and peered out into the night. For a moment, he would swear he'd heard rustling. Slowly bringing out his gun, he peered out into the night. There was nothing, not that he could see anyway, though the grimace that had crossed his lips still remained. "Don't mess with me in my own house, Ted." Steve grunted, as if he could be heard "I'll blow your damn head off." He added.

Carefully collecting his things, he made his way back up the stairs, checking his alarm system as he went along. Outside, in the darkest shadows of the yard, Ted Davenport calculated Steve's actions with alert interest. He couldn't strike him at home, that much was obvious. No, if he wanted to take what he needed as means of revenge, he'd have to get Ben alone, before Steve even knew he was gone. School wouldn't do, no doubt Steve had told them about him already. No, he'd have to find some way, no matter how long it took.

Revenge would be his, and Ben was his quickest means of getting it.


	17. One Step Closer

A/N: Holy crap, 88 reviews! Wow guys, this is just amazing, I really can't express my thanks enough for the constant support this is getting. Lulz I know I say this a lot but the support is really what keeps me going the way I am. :)

...

**CHAPTER 17  
>One Step Closer<strong>

Ben tried to shrug off the gentle shaking of his shoulders. He knew that it was Steve trying to wake him up, but he didn't want to wake up yet. "Dad..." He groaned, for the first time, actually saying it directed at the man "Just five more minutes." He added quietly.

Steve smirked a bit, tugging off the blankets, which immediately woke Ben up. The boy was sitting up in his bed, groaning quietly, and grumbling under his breath. Steve was just trying to do the right thing and get him up for school, but after the day before? He wasn't exactly looking forward to returning to what would likely involve a lot of shouts of "SNITCH!". "Dad, I'm not going to school." Ben groaned "I don't want to deal with their friends being pissed off at me." He added.

Steve shook his head, seating himself on the bed. "I know, you're not going to school today. I already called in and said you were sick." Steve explained, Ben stared at him "I didn't want you back there either, not the day after anyway." He shook his head a bit "But we still need to be at HQ by eight. So... I need you up, alright?' He asked, Ben nodded groggily, feeling a bit better now "Come on, up and at 'em." He added.

"How can you get up this early and be wide awake?" Ben muttered.

"I was in the Navy, bud." Steve gently jested him as he pulled the boy into a good morning hug "Good morning." He added as Ben hugged him back, before releasing him "Now get ready, I'm making breakfast this morning." He added.

Ben watched Steve leave, blinking a bit, wondering just how happy he had actually made Steve. He seemed to be in a much better mood than most mornings that day, and considering how he'd been acting lately, that was saying something. Sighing a bit, getting ready as quickly as he could, his body was still sore, but he still was able to get dressed as quickly as he could. Downstairs, an aroma of maple syrup wafted into his nose, and he grinned. "Okay, what's the occasion?" Ben asked, he looked up at Steve, confusion in his eyes "You're in a REALLY good mood." He added.

Steve grinned from ear-to-ear, holding up a stack of papers. Ben walked over, and took the papers from his hands. His eyes widened, looking at him expectedly. "You got official custody?" Steve grinned and nodded his head a bit "Oh my God, you waited this long to tell me!" Ben grinned widely, knowing that these papers meant that Steve was now his legal guardian "That means-" He began.

"It means we begin the long adoption process." Steve told him, Ben looked over "Gotta remember Ben, this means legally, I have official custody of you. But I still have to fight to keep that custody." He explained, Ben nodded his head a bit "Smile though, come on. This means social services can't take you." He wrapped his arm around Ben expectedly "This is really your home now." He added, there came the smile "We're going to celebrate tonight, you, me, and the team." He added.

Ben grinned a bit, then looked at Steve. "I bet Catherine will be excited too, did you call her?" Ben asked.

Steve grinned over at Ben, shaking his head. He hadn't told Catherine yet, but they were web chatting that night and he planned to tell her first thing. Sure she hadn't met Ben yet, but she knew how much this meant to him. "Not yet, we web chat date tonight. I was thinking we could maybe... Tell her together?" Ben felt his body tighten a bit "I mean, she really wants to meet you. And being overseas, it's the best we can do." He added.

Ben looked at Steve quietly, chewing his lower lip a little. He had always been okay with the fact that Steve was dating, but he didn't expect to meet Catherine so soon. He'd hope that he'd have been adopted by the time we met each other. That way, if she didn't like him, Steve wouldn't get rid of him. Setting his hands in his pockets, he stared off a bit. "I don't know, Dad. What if she doesn't like me?" He asked.

Steve frowned a bit, placing a hand on the boy's cheek gently, stroking it with his thumb. "I don't see how she couldn't, Ben. And even if she does? She's going to have to deal with it." Steve replied, Ben smiled a little, feeling a bit better at that last part "She may have been a part of my life before. But now you're just as much of a part of it as she is. Okay?" He told him "You two are going to meet one way or the other." He added.

Ben took a deep breath inward, he nodded a bit, knowing he had no choice. Steve was right, he was dating Catherine, this was his girlfriend. Even though they were together, he was also a "Dad" now. If he had been too worried about what Catherine would think, he'd never have taken the chance with him. "Alright, alright. I'll join you." He told him quietly "Now, can I have a pancake or what?" He said, licking his lips.

Steve grinned, and placed two on his plate, then added. "Dig in."

He could only hope everything would go well that night.

...

Steve had scheduled the web chat about an hour before they ha to leave to meet the team. To say Ben was nervous, would have been an understatement. He wasn't nervous about what Steve would do, rather, he was nervous about just meeting Catherine. It wasn't face-to-face, not yet, but it was close enough. Sighing a bit, he fiddled with his tie, knowing that they were going to a nice restaurant to celebrate. A pair of hands reached over, taking over. "Here, let me help you." Steve grinned.

Ben grinned a bit himself, they'd only gotten the suit recently, but he still felt a little dumb. He'd never had to wear one before, and as a result, it had taken him a while to just figure it out. Carefully finishing off the tie, Steve patted his shoulders. "Looking sharp, my boy." Steve grinned, Ben felt his cheeks flush in response before the beeping started up "There she is." He added.

Ben had gotten ready in Steve's room, only because of that reason. They hadn't known exactly when she'd be free, only a general time frame. Making his way to the bed, and answering the video chat quickly, Steve grinned at the laptop. Catherine stared at him, expectedly, her arms crossed. "Suit, big grin... What's the occasion, McGarrett?" She teased, Steve chuckled a bit at that "Or should I already know?" She asked.

Steve looked over at Ben, and motioned him over. The boy paused for a moment, but slowly inched his way over, seating himself beside Steve on the bed. The man put his arms around Ben, smiling down. "Guess who go legal custody?" Catherine's eyes widened as Steve said the words "Cath, I think it's about time you and my soon-to-be son were introduced." He explained, Ben continued to blush a bit "Ben, this is Cath." He added "Cath, this is Ben." He added.

There was a long silence after that, Ben's words were caught in his throat, more than once. Catherine, to his relief, was the first to speak. "I am so happy to finally meet you Ben. I've heard so many good things." Catherine grinned up at Steve "He doesn't shut up about you, you know that?" She then added, in a teasing manner "Makes me a little jealous." She added.

Ben chuckled, and shifted a little in Steve's arms. "Dad talks a lot about you too." Ben told her, shrugging his shoulders "And if I may say so, you are just as good looking as he said." Steve rolled his eyes a bit, blushing himself "I-I'm glad to finally meet you too." He said shyly.

Ben let Steve keep hold of him, but Steve knew that was as far as it was going. "Oh and to answer your question, we're celebrating tonight." Steve explained, he leaned forward "I really wish you were here to celebrate with us." He told her quietly, Catherine only smiled a bit, nodding "But we'll all just have to celebrate ourselves in three months." Ben looked up at Steve, stunned by those words.

"Sounds like a plan." Catherine continued to smile "You can drink for the two of us." She added.

"I would, but Danno would kill me." Steve laughed, then looked at Ben "After all, I'm the only designated driver in the house." Ben chuckled himself at that one "Unless I put the thirteen year old at the wheel. And people are known to frown on that." He chuckled a bit, Catherine only shook her head a little "I miss you." He added.

"Don't go mushy in front of the kid." Catherine winked, a sound in the background grabbed her attention "Crap, I need to go, guys. I wish we could talk more but sounds like I'm needed." She turned to Ben slowly "You be sure and give your "Dad" as much trouble as possible for me, alright?" Ben chuckled, and gave a thumbs up to her "It was nice meeting you, if anything else." She turned to Steve at that "You, stay out of trouble." She added.

"No promises." Steve replied.

The web chat ended slowly, and Steve shook his head a little. Ben only looked over at Steve slowly, and sighed. "That was quick." He added.

"That's the thing about being in the Navy." Steve shrugged "You don't get tons of free time." He paused "Now go on, I'll meet you downstairs, alright?" He added.

Ben nodded, he rushed out of the room in a hurry as Steve took a deep breath. That had gone much more smoothly than he'd expected, but they still had the meeting in real life to go through. He could only hope it would go as smoothly as it had this time. Taking a deep breath, and making sure he had his badge on him, just in case, he placed the laptop back on his desk and headed out the door. He was most certainly looking forward to one night where they could all be together, without any stress at all.


	18. Worse Than Imagined

**CHAPTER 18  
>Worse Than Imagined<strong>

Ben had never been big on celebrations, he didn't really like all eyes on him, and that night was no different. As soon as he had finished his dinner, and the others were still talking, he'd stepped out for fresh air. There was a large balcony that could be seen by the table, and that allowed him enough space to think. He wasn't thinking about anything in particular really, mostly about well, everything. His brother, Steve, the home he now had with the McGarrett family, his family, he supposed. Even though he wasn't adopted yet, Steve was now his legal guardian, which pretty much made him a part of their family.

Moreso, however, Ben's thoughts went to his brother, and his silence. He shifted uncomfortably, Ben knew that Ted was probably taking his time to calculate his plan, think of what he would be smart to do. He felt his hand slightly tremble, but tried to calm himself. Nothing would happen while they were out, the entire team was there, Ted wasn't stupid. "Ben?" Ben turned his head as Chin moved onto the balcony "Everything alright out here?" He asked.

Ben almost wondered why Chin was the one coming out to talk to him. He'd grown connected to most of the team, but Chin. It wasn't that they weren't on good terms, they were, he was a nice guy. But unlike Kono and Danny, Ben had made no real connection to Chin. "I never did good with celebrations." He admitted, knowing that Chin would want an answer "I guess I just needed some time alone." He added.

Chin crossed his arms, and walked forward. He stared across the beach they were overlooking calmly, and sighed. "You're still worried about your brother, aren't you?" Ben looked at Chin, his eyebrows lifted slowly "Don't look so surprised. I know you put up a brave front for us, but little brotha, no offense. But you don't do a good job." Ben smirked a bit, knowing Chin hadn't meant it in a mean way "I don't blame you though. This quiet has to be unnerving for you." He added.

"He's being quiet because he exposed himself." Ben told Chin, who stared at him "He's going to come after me Chin, that's his ultimate goal now. And Ted?" Ben looked down "He's always about getting his goals no matter what, or who he hurts." He chewed his lip quietly "I'm not going to lie and say I'm okay, because I'm not... You're right, I am scared." He muttered.

"You know Steve won't let anything bad happen to you." Chin stated in an attempt to comfort him.

Ben only nodded his head, he definitely knew that, he didn't doubt it. The way Steve cared about him, he was almost positive the man would take a bullet for him if he had to. "I'm scared for Dad too. More than I'm scared for me." Chin stared at Ben, more than a little surprised "I'm pretty sure that if... It came down to his life or mine, whenever the shit hits the fan..." He closed his eyes slightly "Well, you know." He added "I'm really afraid of losing him to Ted too." He added.

"I wouldn't worry too much about McGarrett." Chin encouraged, gently nudging him a little "He's a lot tougher than you've seen out of him, I can honestly tell you that." Ben smiled a bit, that he believed, more than enough "I bet even if he did take a bullet for you, knowing him? He'd just get right back up." He added, Ben smiled a bit "I don't think he'd ever leave you, he'd bring himself back from the dead before he did that." He explained.

Ben shifted a bit, and looked down, he was quiet for a moment. "I guess it's just... I'm almost fourteen. And I'm way past the 'cute' age." He turned around to stare inside the restaurant, and the rest of the team "Dad was willing to give me a chance. But at this point? I don't think anyone else would, because everyone else will think I've got mental problems or whatever." He turned to Chin "I guess I just don't want to be an orphan again." He shrugged.

"I can imagine it's not much fun." Chin observed.

"It's the reason I got into so much trouble on the streets. I'm sure you all know that, though." Ben admitted quietly, he leaned against the railing "When you're alone? It's hard to do anything right, I guess." He looked down a bit, and sighed quietly "God I sound like some sort of angst-filled nerd or something right now. I mean, I really am NOT looking for pity." He stated, a bit nervous.

"I didn't think you were, every so often everyone feels the need to reflect." Chin replied, honestly, his eyes suddenly peered towards his neck and blinked "Ben, what's that?" He asked.

Ben froze up, for the first time, he realized, someone had _finally _noticed the scar. Carefully covering the area on his neck that carried the thin line, and ended just before his throat, Ben was quick to turn back towards the restaurant. "Ben... Is that a knife scar?" He heard Chin's voice, Ben chewed his lip "Ben..." He added quietly.

"Dad's probably wondering where we are." Ben replied as quickly as he could "We should head back."

Ben was headed inside before Chin ever got another word out. But that was more than enough of an answer for Chin, it had, without a doubt, been a knife scar. A lump formed in his throat as he considered the ways he might have gotten it. But he knew the answer, it was staring him right in the face, especially after Steve had before mentioned how afraid Ben was of his brother.

Ted had been more than keeping him on the streets, he'd been abusing him too.

...

"Ben, I'm going to say this again..." Steve was gentle in his voice as Ben sat on his bed "What other scars are you hiding?" He asked.

Ben knew he'd been caught, but he'd wanted to believe that Chin wouldn't tell Steve. Ben had done a good job of keeping it hidden from Steve, making sure he never saw certain areas of his body. He'd even done so the day they'd gone surfing, and that had been its own challenge. "Dad, you're overreacting." Ben tried to insist.

"Overreacting? Ben, you have a fucking KNIFE scar on your neck." Steve stared at him, his arms crossed in irritation "You get that one of two ways. By someone attempting to slit your throat to kill you. Or threatening to do so to keep you scared." Ben turned his head a bit, Steve paused a bit "I want you to take off your shirt, and let me have a GOOD look at your body. If you're not going to tell me, I'll see it myself." He added.

"I use cover-up on them." Ben admitted.

"You told me that was for ACNE." Steve didn't look pleased that Ben had lied to him "Go to the bathroom, wash off the cover up, and come back in here." Ben didn't move "Benjamin David Davenport, that was NOT a request!" He added.

Ben had never heard Steve use his full name, and that was all the warning he needed for that reason. Steve waited for the boy to return, which he did, shirtless and timid. Steve was silent as he looked over his body, for the first time seeing it without Ben moving, and without the cover-up. His body was a mess, not as bad as he'd been afraid it would be, but still a mess. Two thick scars ran down his chest, likely made by knives. Slowly healing bruises lay on his stomach. His back, as he circled Ben wasn't much better, two welts on either shoulder revealed more than enough.

Steve cringed, but his training allowed him to fight back his urge to vomit. "I'm taking you to the hospital, you need to be checked out, right now." Steve shook his head, his muscles and body tightening "Dammit Ben, you should have told me this a long time ago. Do you realize that you could have gotten sick if those welts became infected?" He muttered "Is this how he kept you... You know... Loyal?" He asked.

"How else would he?" Ben cringed as Steve ran his hand along the right welt "He didn't do it often, but when he did, he made sure it hurt." He explained, shaking his head "I got the scars on my chest for going to the police to turn in some money I found on the street." He explained "The bruises on my stomach were for trying to fight him off after he came to the alley drunk..." He paused, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath "I got the welts for trying to run away from him. He found me and used an old belt he got from a dumpster to whip me." He added.

"That bastard..." Steve began.

"I deserved it." Ben told him.

"Did you deserve the cut on the neck too?" Steve stated, anger laden in his voice "What the hell did you do to deserve that, huh?" He asked.

Ben cringed at the way Steve said those words, he really didn't want to answer him. Ben's tears slowly betrayed him, he hugged his body, and to Steve's shock, he broke down. Steve had never seen Ben break down in such a way, not in his entire life. Carefully catching him in his arms, and holding him close, he felt Ben's entire shake violently in his arms. "I wouldn't let him touch me..." Ben whispered softly, his voice shaky "He wanted to, but I wouldn't let him." He muttered "So he cut me so that I'd stop fighting..." He told him quietly.

Steve's eyes widened so far that they could have popped out of his head had they been any wider, the shock slowly settling in. He couldn't have, Ted wouldn't have. "Ben... Did he rape you?" Ben was silent, except for the quiet sobs into Steve's chest "Ben... He didn't." He muttered.

Ben never gave a verbal answer, but the way he wouldn't move from Steve's hold was all the answer he needed. "Ben..." Steve moved him slowly onto the bed, he looked the boy in the eyes "I know this is a hard question for you to answer... But did he ever do this to other boys?" Ben only slowly nodded his head "Ben, I'll be right back, alright?" He muttered quietly.

Steve was quick to exit the room, taking his phone out of his pocket, and quickly dialing Danny's number. "Williams." Came the answer.

"We need to take another look at the body of Michael Stevens." Steve's voice was low and quiet "You know how he doesn't match the M.O.?" There was silence over the other end "Danno... I think Ted's a pedophile." He could hear something on the other end shatter.

"He didn't..." Danny's voice was breaking on the other end.

"It's the reason Ben got the scar on his neck." Steve stated quietly, he slowly slid down the wall "Danny... He told me that he was doing this to other kids. That kid wasn't about revenge Danno..." He stated quietly, shaky "God, how could we not have thought of that?" He asked silently.

"I'll call Chin." Danny replied on the other end "Do you need me to come over there, Steve?" He offered.

"I'm going to take Ben to the hospital, have him checked out." Steve muttered "Call me when you have confirmation of whether or not there are any signs of force on him..." He muttered.

Steve hung the phone up, sitting there slowly, his mind straying. This whole situation, this living nightmare, was even worse than he thought. And if Steve failed to stop him, he could only imagine what might happen next.


	19. Tensions Running High

**CHAPTER 19  
>Tensions Running High<strong>

Steve had been mostly quiet the entire ride to the hospital. The man was in such a state of shock that Ben was almost sure he was ready to attack him for lying. But when Steve reached for him, it wasn't to hurt him, but rather to gently take his hand. "I know, I kept another secret from you that I shouldn't have." Ben muttered, Steve was silent for a moment "Do you know how embarrassing it is, though? He's my brother and he did that to me." The boy's voice cracked "It's not something I just throw around." He added quietly.

"You think I blame you? I wouldn't tell me either." Steve admitted quietly "I'm more concerned about your health than anything. You should have had treatment a long time ago." He paused "Those nightmares you won't tell me about... This is what they're about, isn't it?" Ben was silent for a moment, but slowly nodded his head "Jeex." He muttered.

Ben looked at Steve, he was more distraught than Ben had ever seen him. Perhaps a part of him blamed himself, for not finding Ben sooner. "I need to get you in therapy." Steve noted, Ben looked at him slowly "Don't give me that look, kid. You went through a traumatizing and damaging experience. You're getting therapy." He insisted "I don't want you to go through this alone." He added.

"Did Danny call back?" Ben questioned.

Steve realized Ben had probably heard him earlier, taking a deep breath, he nodded. "He tried to hurt Michael too... But he didn't succeed." Ben bit his lower lip slightly, and Steve rubbed his forehead "We're guessing the girls were a strike at me... Michael? He was just one of his victims. Probably screamed so he had to high tail it out of there." Ben stared away "You know I'd never hurt you like that, right?" He asked.

"If I didn't, do you think I'd be here right now?" Ben asked.

The sound of the doctor returning to their room got Steve's attention. He carried a file, and looked between the two of them. "Ben is going to be fine. There's no sign of sexually-transmitted diseases. The scars are surprisingly healing at a normal rate..." The doctor noticed as Steve took a deep breath, sighing in relief "He's actually very healthy for a boy who went through what he did." He explained.

"Thank God." Steve sighed with relief "Does he need to stay overnight, to be on the safe side?"

"Yeah, with these cases, I tend to like to keep the patients overnight." The Doctor replied honestly, seeing Steve's look of worry he quickly added "You're free to spend the night here as well. I know that situations like these can do a lot to a parent." He told him, Steve only nodded his head slowly "I'll be down the hall until ten if you need me. If I'm not around, press the button on the side of his bed, a nurse will be by." He noted.

Steve muttered a thank you, and silently thanked God for the fact Ben was healthier than he thought he'd be. A few minutes later, the door opened again, to which Steve turned his head and found Danny leaning against the doorway. holding a stuffed bear under his arm. Steve nodded and motioned him over as the man made his way forward, putting on a smile for Ben. "Hey bud, you okay?" He asked.

Ben remained silent, clearly still a little distraught by what he'd told Steve. "About as good as I can be, since I want to crawl under a rock and die." Ben muttered "How would you feel at this point?" He asked.

Ben hadn't meant for it to be rude, but it was the truth. People were already looking at him differently, much differently, and he hated it. It made him feel like a sideshow attraction, something to gawk at and pity, every fear he'd had about talking about what happened. "He has no diseases, and the scars are healing normally." Steve saw that Danny relaxed upon hearing that "He's going to be fine physically, but he's definitely going to therapy now." He added.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here." Ben sat up, his eyes darting between them "Is that bear for me?" He asked.

"Call it a get well soon present." Danny stated as he set the bear down, and gave a small smile "And for the record, I'm going to treat you no differently." He stated, Ben smiled a bit in response to that "I'm very sorry it happened to you, but I can imagine everyone staring at you like that isn't helping." He shot a look at Steve, who shifted uneasily, getting the point.

"Thanks Danno." Ben grinned a bit.

Steve sighed a bit, starting to let go of Ben's hand, but found his squeezed tighter. He understood that, though Ben hated the stares, he still needed Steve's presence there, thus, he simply squeezed back gently. "I'm sorry if I made this awkward for you, bud." Steve attempted an apology "I only wanted to see to it nothing went wrong." He added.

"I know." Ben replied, taking a deep breath "You're my Dad, and you're supposed to worry." He admitted, shrugging a bit "Just promise me that you're not going to go TOO overprotective on me now." He added.

Steve hesitated for a moment, wondering if he could honestly promise that. Inside, Steve felt nothing but anger and hatred towards Ted and what he'd done. But at the same time, he didn't want his relationship with Ben ruined by the sympathy he really felt for him. "I promise not to be too bad about it. I can't promise I won't be amping the security in our house up, though." Ben chuckled at the second part, Steve turned to Danny "You should get home, don't you have Grace this weekend?" He asked.

"Yeah, I should." Danny patted Ben's shoulder lightly "Stay strong, kiddo." He added, as he left.

Ben laid back against the hospital bed quietly, and Steve smiled down at him. "Go to sleep, Ben, you need the rest. I'll still be here in the morning." Steve told him quietly, Ben nodded his head, and allowed Steve to kiss his forehead "Sweet dreams bud." He noted.

"Love you." Ben stated quietly.

"Love you too."

For the first time in a long while, Steve McGarrett didn't move an inch that night.

...

Steve was allowed to take Ben home at noon, after they had done a second round of tests. The results were the same, but Steve had none-the-less convinced them to double check, just in case. Ben was very jittery, likely the memory of what had happened to him had caused him to be a little nervous. As a result, he called the school to inform them that Ben would be missing the next week due to personal issues. He was in no condition to be around other kids, not right at the moment, anyway.

Ben had spent close to the entire day in his room before Steve finally went upstairs to check on him. He found Ben absent-mindidly staring out the window, and gently knocked on the door, the boy looked over and Steve smiled faintly. "Do you still need to talk, kid?" Steve asked, Ben's eyes met his for a moment, but he was silent "You know he isn't going to attack you here." He added.

"You never know with Ted."

Steve seated himself on the edge of Ben's bed slightly, looking over at him silently. "Yeah, he always was good at throwing you off." Steve admitted, then stared at Ben "Unfortunately for him, I have a handgun in my dresser. And if he ever showed up here, I'd shoot his balls off." Ben actually managed to give a small chuckle at that "He'd deserve it." He added.

"I know, I wouldn't blame you either." Ben replied, hugging his knees to his chest "I know I've been distant, and I'm sorry. I just... Remembering all that was hard..." He stared down at the bed a bit "He only ever did it once, but it was only a short time ago. It's so fresh in my mind that..." He bit his lip timidly, and looked at Steve "I'm sorry, I know you don't want to hear about it." He addd.

"Bud, I love you." Steve reassured "If you need to talk, I'm right here to listen."

Ben looked up at his guardian quietly, Steve didn't move. "I guess when I was younger, I'd never know what he'd take the kids for. But I do know that when he'd bring them out of the alley... That's when he'd be gone for long periods of time and bring back the money." He paused a bit "Normally, Ted would bring it in a wallet, and when I realized... That he was hurting those kids... I wanted to get away from him." He was quiet.

"But Ted wouldn't have that." Steve concluded.

"Yeah... You know the rest." Ben shifted uneasily, he looked at Steve "It was only two weeks later that I met you, actually." Steve looked stunned by that statement, his face fell slowly "I know it sounds cheesy, but you saved my life, Dad..." He added quietly "I was so scared of what would happen to me after he hurt me like that..." He went quiet.

"Well guess what, you found me, and you're SAFE now." Steve told him gently, Ben let a smile cross his face "And he's never going to get the chance to hurt you like that again." He looked him in the eyes "I swear on my life, Ben. He will _never_ touch you like that again." He noted, Ben nodded, believing Steve's words "Now... Come on... There's a double scoop of Lapperet's Ice Cream down at the Hilton with your name on it." He smiled a bit.

"Before dinner?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"I think you need it after the last two days." Steve noted as he stood "Come on." He added.

Ben smiled a bit, and got off the bed calmly, knowing that Steve was right. A nice cold ice cream sounded good right about then. And even though it wouldn't erase what had happened to him, Ben knew it would at least bring something good to the day.


	20. The One Rule

**CHAPTER 20  
>The One Rule<strong>

That night, Steve woke up to the loudest and fiercest scream he had ever heard in his entire life. Out of bed almost at once, he had hold of his gun, and kicked open Ben's bedroom door. It was less than a second later before he realized Ben was not being attacked. He was violently fighting off the air, Steve cringed back, and realized Ben was in the middle of a nightmare. "Ben? Ben wake up!" Steve carefully shook the boy, who sent a left hook into his nose, causing it to bleed out.

"Ted, don't! STOP! You're hurting me!"

Steve kept hold of Ben, and continued to gently shake the boy as best as he could. "Ben, bud. It's Steve, it's STEVE." Ben only continued pounding violently at his chest, Steve mentally noted how much stronger the boy was then he looked "BEN! It's DAD." He tried, his voice becoming low, and quiet "I'm right here buddy, not Ted. Ted can't hurt you." He whispered.

Ben's body started to relax and the beating he was giving Steve ended. Slowly his eyes shot open, and the boy, now drenched with sweat too deep breaths. Ben looked as though he'd just fought a war, but Steve had a feeling there was no other possible way to feel after that kind of nightmare. Making note of Steve's bleeding nose, Ben's face went a tomato red. "Shit Steve, your face." Ben noted softly "Did I-?"

"Yeah, you got quite the left hook... Probably managed to bruise my chest too." Steve muttered, shaking his head "Don't worry about it, kid. It was my own damn fault for trying to grab at you like that." He left for a moment, coming back with a rag against his nose "Are you okay?" He asked, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder "You really scared me, kid." He added.

Ben looked absently to the side, clearly feeling terrible for hurting Steve. This had been a new level of nightmare for him, before when he had had nightmares, it had been about the events proceeding that day. While those had scared him, he had not had to relive the attack itself. That night, he had relived nearly every second of it before Steve had managed to wake him up. "I've never relived it in a nightmare." Ben muttered, wiping tears from his eyes "I'm sorry, it was just-" He began.

"Don't apologize." Steve climbed next to Ben on the bed "Do you trust me enough for me to sleep here tonight?"

Ben looked at Steve for a moment, tempted to say no. But he knew that Steve would never hurt him that way, he only wanted to be there for him. Biting his lower lip, he looked up at his guardian calmly. For once, he realized he needed Steve there, he needed his arms around him. He needed the safety of his hold, of his gentle love. For the first time since he'd been living with Steve, he realized just how much he needed him. "I-I don't want you to leave." Ben muttered, scooting up and laying his head against Steve's chest "I don't want to be alone." He added quietly.

Setting the gun on Ben's nightstand, Steve laid against the bed. With a single arm he pulled Ben close, and shifted him so that he held him against his body. Ben wasn't a toddler, but he was still young enough that the task was easy. Before long, they were both on the same side, with Ben gently rested against him and his arms carefully wrapped around him. "I haven't been held like this..." Ben muttered "Since I was seven... My Dad would do this for me when I had monsters in the closet." He paused "Guess the monsters are a little more real now." He muttered.

_Just a little_. Steve thought to himself.

Steve chose not to make that comment, not wanting to upset Ben. "Yeah, my Dad used to do the same thing when he was at home." Steve replied, Ben looked up at him calmly "I guess I'm taking after him a little bit." He admitted, he stroked Ben's hair gently "Used to be my favorite moments with my Dad. I kept doing it even when I was older..." He shook his head "I think he finally stopped buying it, eventually." He added.

Ben chuckled slightly, snuggling up against Steve, the man looked down at him thoughtfully. "The one thing he would do, that I suck at is hum a lullaby, when I was REALLY little though." Ben couldn't help but laugh a little at that "I don't even know if I remember one of those." He admitted, though Ben shrugged "Well, maybe one." He whispered.

"Dad, you don't have to-"

But Steve had already started, what compelled him to do so, he didn't know. But he began to hum one of those lullaby's in hopes that Ben might relax his body enough to go to sleep. It was probably extremely out of tune, and sounded terrible, but Steve tried. Slowly, but surely, he felts Ben's body relax against him, going more and more still until it was dead weight against his chest. Ben's soft snoring was all Steve needed to stop the terrible rendition of the lullaby he'd been lulled to sleep with.

Resting his head against a pillow, Steve took a deep breath. Lowering a kiss onto Ben's head softly, he smiled down at him. "I love you, Ben. You're safe with me..." He assured the sleeping boy.

Slowly, his own eyes closed, and he too fell into a deep sleep. Heaven knew that, after the past few days and what became of it, they both had earned it, big time.

...

"Another boy?"

Steve was glad that he'd set Ben up with a video game he'd recently bought him in his office already. Closing his eyes as he took hold of his jaw, he opened them, and stared between Danny and Kono. The two gave each other a glance, likely mentally drawing straws as to who would be the one to go over the details. "Yeah, another boy." Kono replied "We think he's dropped the 'freeing them' act, probably got bored." He added.

"Somehow, he knows that you know about his real M.O." Danny explained "He had his way with this kid... Older than Ben, seventeen." Steve felt his eyes look down at the floor "He left a card next to the kid's body saying "REMIND YOU OF ANYONE, STEVIE?"." Steve felt his hands squeeze into fists slowly.

Ted was playing a dangerous game with Steve now, this was striking him right where it hurt. Steve understood that Ted was angry at him, he knew he hated him. But hurting innocent boys to make a point was taking it too far. "Not a WORD of this goes to Ben." He stated, as if the two didn't already know that, but both nodded anyway "Who found the kid?" He asked.

"Ironically, his brother." Danny replied.

"Kono, I want his brother questioned. Have Chin bring him down, and find out anything he might have seen." Steve told them, flatly, Kono yet again nodded and left.

"And what are we going to do?" Danny asked, cocking his eyebrow.

Steve turned to Danny, looking him in the eyes with an "as if you had to ask" look. Danny stared towards the office, and shook his head. "We can't go out into the field, Steven. Not with Ben alone in here." Danny crossed his arms "I know you're new to this, but a lot of bad things can happen-" He began.

"Kono's right outside, she's just calling Chin." Steve replied "He'll be alone for five minutes, tops."

Admittedly, Steve felt a little nervous leaving Ben alone inside the building. He took a deep breath, it could be even more dangerous to do what he was doing, but it was the only choice he had. Even if Kono was back in five minutes, she and Chin would be in the interrogation room. Taking a deep breath, he headed into the office, opening the door. "Ben..." Ben looked over at Steve slowly "Come on bud, I need you to come on patrol with us." He added.

Ben hesitated for a moment, mostly out of confusion, but stood and headed out the door. Danny stared at Steve as though he had just skinned a cat and served it to him for dinner. "The things you do when I don't keep my big mouth shut." Danny grunted a bit, and stared at Steve "I hope you realize that this is going against SEVERAL regulations. Not to mention the Governor will skin you alive if he finds out." He added.

"This way, he's not alone. We'll keep him close and he'll be fine." Steve stated flatly.

Danny stared at Steve, deciding that there was no way that his partner would change his mind. Mentally chastising himself already, he nodded a bit, and looked over at Steve. "Hell, why not? Bringing a kid along on police work is the one rule we have yet to break at this point." He stated sarcastically, Ben let out a small chuckle "Don't even... Don't encourage your old man." He said as he pointed at Ben.

Danny headed out the door as Steve put a hand on Ben's shoulder gently. Ben looked right up at him, knowing he had something important to say. "You're going to stay in the car at all times. If I ever need you out of it, I'll say so. If and when I do, you stay as close to me or Danno as possible." Steve began "If I tell you to run, you run and you don't stop running until you're somewhere safe." He stated bluntly "Got it?" He asked.

"Yes sir." Ben replied with a nod.

"Good, now come on, let's go." Steve gently pushed him for the door.

Inside, he could only hope he wasn't going to regret the decision he had just made.


	21. A Parents Worst Fear

**CHAPTER 21  
>A Parents Worst Fear<strong>

Patrol already bored the heck out of Ben, needless to say. The last four hours had dragged, and his game had already died. When he'd imagined Steve's job, he'd expected lots of car chases and explosions. Apparently, since Danny had said those happened often, he had caught him on a very slow day. Leaning against the door of the car, and "staying in the car" as Steve had instructed, Ben was close to just ignoring the rules, and getting out. They were parked by the beach, of all things, and here he was, stuck in the car.

Taking a deep breath, and reaching forward, he opened the door, calmly, and climbed out. Steve would never know, he told himself, he'd be back before he even noticed. He stepped onto the sand, slipping off his sandals, and letting the sand go between his toes. Of course, Ben couldn't have known that while looking for his brother, Steve and Danny had run into yet another criminal. Of course, Ben knew that his brother's case wasn't the only case that Steve had taken, he understood they had three going at once.

"Hey kid." Ben jumped slightly as he turned around to see a man by Steve's car "This yours?" He asked, Ben only nodded his head slowly "Mighty fine piece of machinery." He added.

Ben took note of the man's appearance, he was tall, and strongly built. A mainlander, that much was obvious, older, but a friendly face. All the same Ben felt a hint of hesitation around the man. "Yeah, it's my Dad's, well his and his partners." The man looked rather impressed by that, looking the Comaro over, inching towards Ben a bit "I don't think he likes people touching the car, dude." He added.

"I didn't know old McGarret had a son." The man noted, Ben immediately inched back a bit "He's a little young to have Fathered you, isn't he?" He asked.

Ben immediately pulled on his sandals, and stared at the man slightly. "Who's McGarrett, man? I think you've got that car confused." Ben lied, he was rather good at it, as he'd lied before "In fact, there's my Dad right now." Ben pointed towards a small family down the beach "I should-" Ben began.

"Ben!" He heard Steve shout.

Ben felt the arm wrap around his neck and yank him back violently before he'd known what happened. The steel against his temple could only belong to one thing, a gun, his eyes turned to see the man from before holding him tightly to his body. Steve and Danny, who had been coming up from the beach immediately froze in their tracks, Steve's gun held steadily, but now, slightly shakily. "You shoot me, Steve, and I shoot HIM." The man threatened, holding hand onto Ben's neck, and making it hard to breathe "Cute kid you have here. It'd be a shape to suffocate or shoot him." He noted.

"Thomas." Steve said calmly "Let him go, he isn't involved in any way." He began.

"Shouldn't have brought him on patrol then, huh?" Thomas, the perp that had hold of Ben mocked "Even if he had stayed in the car, you think that was going to stop me from noticing him." Ben began a small struggle, but Thomas's grip was much stronger "Don't even you little shit." He noted, he looked at Steve "Why don't you just toss me the keys?" He asked with a smirk.

"Let him go first." Steve barked.

"Throw me the FUCKING keys." Thomas barked.

Ben could feel his hear beating a million miles per hour, he knew this would happen someday. But not this soon, he didn't think that Steve's status would land him in trouble so soon. Steve wasn't faring much better, watching the man holding so violently onto Ben, and seeing how Ben was struggling to breathe scared him. He didn't want to see his kid get hurt, not by a low life looking to make his escape. Closing his eyes, he slowly brought the keys out from his pocket, and tossed them at Thomas's feet.

Thomas shoved Ben against the car, but kept his gun trained on him. Ben was choking his body trembling in pain, as Thomas crouched down and grabbed the keys. The man took firm hold of Ben's neck, and held him close to him. "I wonder how much you love your boy, Steven." Steve's eyes were full of rage, compared to the giddy look in Thomas's "How much you'd pay to get him back." He added flatly.

Immediately, Steve moved to fire his gun, but found Thomas had shoved Ben in front of him. Cursing under his breath, he realized that if he even fired just an inch off, he could shoot Ben. "D-Dad." Ben felt tears flow down his cheeks, realizing Steve wouldn't fire if he was held hostage "Let me go!" He shrieked, beginning to fight.

"Thomas, don't be stupid here." Steve immediately tried to reason with him "He's-"

"Mine, now." Thomas finished with a sneer, opening the door and shoving Ben in as he climbed in.

Ben immediately went for the door handle, but found that Thomas had locked the door. He watched as, with the gun hand, Thomas waved out the window. Before he knew it, he was pulling out of the space and driving off, with Ben as a hostage. The thirteen year old felt his muscles tightening, watching as Thomas reached into his back pocket, pulling out a roll of duct tape, and some rope. "Alright, now, you see this?" He held up the duct tape, Ben nodded "Put that on your mouth for me." He stated, putting the gun against Ben's temple again.

Ben was careful in unrolling the tape, slowly, placing a piece against his lips as he was told. Thomas waited until they were on a street and stopped at a stop light when he carefully put another layer of the tape onto his mouth. Next, he took the rope an carefully bound his wrists together before buckling him in. Ben nearly crapped his pants, fear filling every inch of his body. "You're a good listener, kid." Thomas told him "Just keep being that way, and I won't have to kill you." He noted.

Ben slowly played with the rope, but found that Thomas was very smart. Carefully, he wrapped a thick three layers of tape over the ropes, keeping it stuck to his wrists. After he'd been situated, he found that the light had turned green, and Thomas continued on. "Now, how much do you think your Daddy will pay me to give you back to him?" Thomas asked, his head tilted a bit "Fifteen hundred? I know he's got a nice big house, he must be loaded." He stated flatly.

Slowly working to use an elbow to unlock the seatbelt, he barely succeeded. Ben quickly proceeded to kick for his attacker's head, violently and swiftly. His ankle never made it to the head, quickly gripped. "Oh that's cute, you think you can fight me." Thomas grinned "Well we can't have that." He noted.

Ben found himself shoved into the backseat like he was a ragdoll. Whoever Thomas was, he was strong, and he was going to see to it that Steve paid him to get Ben back. Stopping the car for a moment, Thomas turned around. "Now, so you won't give me any MORE trouble." He stated, leaning forward and carefully pinching Ben's nose "Time to sleep, kid." He noted.

Slowly Ben's world became dizzy, his airway blocked, his eyes growing heavy. It wasn't long before the fingers left his nose, but it wasn't long before the world became dark either.

...

When Ben woke up, he'd almost thought he was home. The tape and rope was all gone, and he was laying on something soft, his body shifted slightly, and he sat up. The room was definitely too dark to be his bedroom. Not to mention he wasn't on a soft bed, he noticed the couch quietly, shooting up from the spot, he quickly noticed that he was in a living room. Ben rubbed the back of his head, confusion settling in, fear settling in. "Dad?" He choked, hoping he'd fallen asleep during watching television and it had all bene a dream "Dad...?" He called a little louder.

"Good, you're awake." Ben felt the chill go up his spine as he saw Thomas enter the room "Thought I'd let you sleep before, I move you, the gracious host that I am." He stated with a grin, playing with what looked like handcuffs "Come on, kid, do what I want, and I promise not to hurt you." He noted.

Ben hesitated quietly but walked forward, the man was careful in putting the handcuffs around his wrists. He left after that, but came back with what looked like a long leg shackle, which he set tightly around his right leg. "You've done this before, haven't you?" Ben trembled quietly as Thomas stared up at him, grinning "This stuff isn't exactly something you get at home depot." He added.

"Congratulations, you're a smart kid." Thomas chuckled slightly "Yeah, I've kidnapped kids before. But I really kidnap anyone who has someone in their life that would pay top dollar to see them alive." He gripped his chin a bit, clenching Ben's mouth closed "Now, stop talking. I don't care to hear what you have to say." He then added "If I leave you in the kitchen, will you try and run?" Ben hesitated "Answer honestly." He slowly nodded "Well then I know where you're going." He noted.

Thomas dragged Ben by the neck down a long hallway. Stopping in front of a door, and opening it, he entered the room. It was a large bedroom, making his way to the corner of the room, he quickly found a cot, blanket, and pillow waiting for him, on the side of the wall, he found a circular hook. He attached the shackle to the hook and shoved Ben right onto the cot. "Don't be so fidgety, I'm not a pedophile. But if you think you're gonna run? You're not leaving my sight at night." Thomas smirked, Ben tugged at the shackle slowly "You can try, but you won't succeed." He added.

"Please, just let me go." Ben whispered.

"I will, so long as Daddy pays up." Thomas noted, checking the shackle and handcuffs slightly "Until then, I'll give you three meals a day. You get ten minutes to use the bathroom, once a day. So think about it when you ask." He noted, then added "You do what I say, and I'll take the leg shackle and handcuffs off, and you can go freely in the house. Don't. And you spend however long it takes to ransom you in this corner." He added "Being fed soup from a spoon by me because I'm not sure I can trust you without the cuffs." He added.

"Please..." Ben whispered.

Thomas ignored him this time, he stalked for the door, and turned his head. "I suggest you sleep, BEN." Ben cringed slightly at the way he said his name "Because after the way you've fought me, you aren't getting dinner." He added.

Ben watched Thomas leave, the door slammed and locked. Ben trembled slowly, tears in his eyes. He knew his phone was gone, Thomas would have checked first for that. But it was still worth a shot. Reaching down for his pocket, he searched quietly, finding nothing. Slowly, laying on the cot, he let his body tremble quietly in fear.

He could only pray to God that Steve would find him, because heaven only knew what this man had planned for him.

...

A/N: I felt like before Ted's whole thing came into play, I should cover this. I figure that at some point, a perp other than Ted would kidnap Ben to get to Steve. So, I hope you guys like this little turn of events that I gave you. :)


	22. Surprise, Surprise

**CHAPTER 22  
>Surprise, Surprise<strong>

Ben shifted awake the next morning to an empty stomach and exhaustion. The door to the room was open, and Thomas had stepped into the room calmly. His vision blurred and his body tired, Ben groaned a bit. Thomas must have heard him, as he turned his head towards Ben slowly pausing. "Water..." Ben muttered "Please..." He begged.

Thomas seemed to sigh a bit, grabbing a glass, he brought it over. "Can't have you dehydrate on me." Thomas smirked, holding a glass of water, he looked at him "Open your mouth, hmmm?" He asked, Ben slowly did as he was told, the water being poured into his mouth "That's it, atta boy." Thomas grinned a bit, Ben took breaks but finished the glass slowly, Thomas stood up "Now, Ben was it?" Ben nodded "You ever been a hostage before, Ben?" He asked.

"No." Ben muttered.

"Oh ho ho, allow me to pop your cherry." Thomas patted Ben's cheek to which he flinched back "You see, three months ago. Five-0 tried to put me away in jail." Thomas stated as he crouched to Ben's level "Obviously, I got out. But I knew I had to see to it they didn't get away with that. So me? Well... I had planned to grab Williams's daughter." He turned his head "But the son of McGarrett? So much better." He noted.

"They caught you once, they can-"

"Oh please, I changed venues. Do I look stupid?" Ben didn't answer that question, figuring he didn't want an answer "Don't worry, I only took you to exchange for escape money. I'm not going to hurt you." Thomas noted, Ben had a feeling that much was true "I don't hurt kids. The most I'll do is keep you as you are, simply so you don't run the first few days." He added.

"Days?" Ben felt a lump in his throat, but looked thoughtful "Just call my Dad and have it over wi-" He began.

"You kidding me? No way, I have to make him squirm first or he won't pay up." Thomas stated flatly "I'll keep you about a week, then call him, schedule the transfer, and you'll be free to go." He sighed a bit "I could let you out of that stuff, granted, if you run, I'll just drag you back." Ben was quiet "Will you run?" Ben shook his head, knowing he couldn't "Good." He noted.

As he unlocked the shackle and cuffs, Ben sighed a bit, standing up. Thomas watched him closely, he clasped the handcuffs onto a single wrist. "Wherever you go, that'll be attached somewhere. I don't think I trust you to go anywhere otherwise." He admitted, staring Ben over a bit "Of course, if you do, I guess I could lift the rules and hurt a kid, but..." He began.

He was right to distrust Ben, with one violent swing, Ben had punched him hard in the groin. Thomas, pained and angry, keeled over as Ben began a mad dash out the door and back down the hallway he'd been dragged down. Looking everywhere he could for a phone, he quickly grabbed the nearest one. Remembering Steve's number quietly, he dialed it letting the phone ring. "McGarrett." A voice on the other line said, it sounded beat and upset.

Ben quickly made his way outside, the area around him was forestry. Pausing a moment he ran for the nearest brush, and crouched. "D-Dad?" Ben whispered, his voice shaky.

"BEN!" The voice on the other end sounded relieved "Bud, are you okay? Has he hurt you?" He asked.

"No but I hurt him, and I don't think he's happy." Ben said, moving behind a tree with his body trembling "I got him to let me free, and hit him in the groin. I don't know how long that'll keep him out." He said, his breathing labored "Dad I'm so scared. Who the hell is this guy?" He asked quietly.

Steve seemed to pause on the other end as Ben moved deeper into the woods. The cell phone stayed at his ear, but Ben knew he had to keep moving, Thomas wouldn't stay inside forever. "He's a man who kidnaps rich people to ransom them for money." Ben nodded his head a bit "We put him away a while back, but he escaped. Probably saw you as an easy target." He added "Ben, can you tell me where you are?" He added.

_SNAP_.

Ben hid himself behind a tree, and peeked over to see Thomas with a large burlap sack, making his way through the forest. "I-I don't know. Dad he's coming back." Ben trembled quietly "He's going to find me." He whispered.

"Ben, listen to me. We have the phone traced now. Don't be afraid, hang up, and stay safe."

Ben slowly nodded and hung up the phone. Quickly he began a dead bolt through the forestry, Thomas spun his head around. Noticing Ben, he began a bolt himself, Ben could hear him close behind him, his feet carrying him away. He ran into something, but it was definitely not wood. "Well, hello there." A man chided, grabbing hold of Ben, who began to struggle "This one yours, Tom?" The man shouted.

Ben got a good look at the man, he was even taller than his captor. He was completely ripped too, making Thomas look like a twig in comparison. "Little shit punched me in the groin." Thomas groaned "McGarrett's little punk." He added, the man holding Ben looked impressed "He isn't the Grace girl, but I figured he worked just as well." He added.

"The son of McGarrett will get us more money." The man who was holding him stated flatly "Open the sack up, can't hold him forever."

Before Ben had even known what was happening he was surrounded by brown, itchy burlap. His body was swung over a shoulder, and he was being carried roughly away from the spot. Ben was roughly dumped out back in the house. "Watch it, Tom. We need the boy unharmed." The man who had grabbed him noted, holding a gun in his lap "Especially considering you know he called his Daddy." He added.

"Who the hell ARE you?" Ben demanded.

"Me?" The man pointed to himself "Someone who Steve damn well better answer to." The man snorted "He ever tell you... About Victor or Anton Hesse?" Ben shook his head "Of course not, he'd only talk about the good things he did." The man scoffed "You see your Daddy took away my boys." He chuckled a bit "So I'd planned... Simply. To take one of their own, Grace at first." He then added "But you're even better." He sneered "Anthony Hesse, at your service." He added.

"Should we chain him up?" Thomas asked.

"No need, he isn't going anywhere. Are you..." He turned to Tom who mouthed Ben's name "Ben?"

Ben noticed the gun again, and how cold the man looked, and shook his head. The man seemed satisfied, but Ben was more than a little afraid. Anthony stood a bit, yanking Ben to his feet, and putting him on the couch. "I hope you know, if he shows up, all it means for YOU, is that he'll be paying even more." He added, playing around with Ben's hair "You're not going until I have his money." He added.

"Dad doesn't-"

"He has a savings account somewhere. And if not, then well... I guess an eye for an eye? Works just as well."

Ben felt tears betray him, his stomach turning in knots. Ben could feel his body tremble, but Anthony only seemed to chuckle slightly. "Now, tell me Ben, if I called Steve right now, and had you tell him to give me the money I want... In exchange for food, would you do it?" Ben hesitated at the smoothness in Anthony's voice "I know you're hungry." He added, Ben slowly nodded "Good, now, Tom get the phone." He then added "Five thousand if he wants you alive, understood?" He asked, Ben nodded "Good boy." He added.

Ben had a very bad feeling about this.

...

Steve was already nervous enough before the phone rang a second time. His eyes darting to the phone on his truck's dashboard, Steve closed his eyes. Danny looked over at him, and nodded to it. Steve almost didn't want to answer, not knowing what he might be told. For the first time, he was genuinely afraid, for Ben's safety if nothing else. Carefully taking the phone and answering he paused for a moment. "Ben, are you okay? We're on our way-" He began.

"Dad, some guy named Anthony Hesse is with me." Steve could feel his blood run cold as the name hit him "He says that he wants five thousand dollars or he's going to kill me." He added quietly "And i-if you show up here without it, he'll kill me in front of you." His voice was breaking.

Steve mentally chastised himself, wishing he had never let Ben out on patrol now. Steve closed his eyes, and eyed Danny slowly, who nodded. "Ben, it's okay. Don't be scared, I have the money." Steve was quiet "I'm going to get the money and get you back, alright? Just take a deep breath, don't let him know you're afraid." He could hear Ben whining on the other end "Ben, nothing bad will happen to you I swear." He added.

"Just hurry." Ben whispered.

"I'm going to bud, I promise, you'll be out of there before you know it." Steve paused a moment "I love you." He added.

"Love you too."

The line went dead, and Steve knew that Anthony had cut their conversation short. Slamming the phone onto the dashboard, he cursed under his breath quietly. "Victor Hesse's Father..." Steve choked, Danny's eyes widened a bit "That bastard took him to Victor Hesse's FATHER." He added quietly "This sure as hell isn't all about money, Danno." He added.

"Steve, calm down, we'll-" Danny began.

"I don't even HAVE five grand Danny!" Steve snapped.

Danny bit his lower lip slightly, and looked at his partner slowly. He knew what he was about to do was something he'd do for few other people. But he knew that if it was Grace and the roles were reversed, Steve would do the same thing. "I do." Danny told him slowly, Steve turned his head towards Danny "I was setting it aside for a vacation with Gracie. But if it'll help Ben, I can get it." He added.

"Danno-"

"Don't EVEN." Danny replied flatly "I don't care if he's going to pull some crap on us. If the money even buys us time, it's worth using." Danny grabbed Steve's arm "Drive me to the bank, Steven, so we can get the money and get him out of there." He added flatly.

Steve stared at Danny, chewing his lip, he didn't want to do it, but he knew he had to. Even if Anthony was going to try something, perhaps he would keep to his word. After all, he only knew him by reputation only, he could be different, Steve could be wrong. But even as he drove as quickly as he could for the bank, Steve highly doubted it.


	23. Harder Than He Thought

**CHAPTER 23  
>Harder Than He Thought<strong>

Ben watched Anthony and Tom's movements carefully, they hadn't done much though. Outside from pacing and arguing in a way that made Steve and Danny's arguments look small. They'd left the room, and as such, had cuffed him to the nearby table calmly. Ben took a deep breath, keeping his body as calm as he could. He knew that this would happen someday, he really had. But unless it were Ted, he had never expected it to happen so soon. Sighing as Anthony re-entered the room, he kept a calm look at Anthony.

"So, Ben, tell me. What's taking your Father so long?" It was clear the man was growing impatient now "It's obvious of course, that you're adopted. Steve's too young to have had you, and well... Clearly you look nothing like him. But was it that much of pity?" Ben made an attempt to lunge but the cuff kept him back "Calm down now, no need to get violent." He added.

"My Dad and Uncle Danno are coming for me." Ben was stunned that for the first time he'd called Danny that, but not enough to stop his speech "You think you're tough? Kidnapping his kid? That seems more like a scared man to me." The man frowned at him a bit "My biological brother is a pedo and he has more guts than you." He growled.

The smack was hard, Ben actually fought back tears. Ben looked at Anthony slowly, who glared hard at him. "Boy, a word of advice, never compare me to a sick fuck like that." Anthony noted, Ben slowly sat up "Even criminals like me don't like that." Ben looked away "I don't care if you even were a victim, but don't bring it up around me." He snarled.

Ben had always been told that was true about criminals, that pedophilia was huge taboo with them. But had he ever been positive about it? Definitely not, that was an interesting thing to learn. Anthony stood up, and looked at Ben, who stared down. "I'm sure you think I'm a hypocrite for saying it. But you have my sympathy if you were." Anthony noted "Not that it will get you far, your Dad comes empty handed and a bullet is still going through your skull." He snorted.

Ben sighed, so much for trying to get enough sympathy. Normally he'd have never thought of that as he hated the amount of sympathy he got, but he'd give anything to escape this situation at this point. "I don't want your sympathy." Ben answered flatly, Anthony turned his head "I get enough of that at Five-0, last I need is sympathy for a sick freak trying to use me for money." He added.

Anthony snorted, amused, or at least, Ben figured he was. "I like you, kid. You got spunk, no fear." Anthony turned, he crossed his arms a bit "But I'm going to make something VERY clear." That's when he grabbed the back of Ben's hair, and Ben realized this man wasn't having that "You don't give an attitude to ME. You are my hostage. You're only as good as the money you're going to get me as compensation for the death of MY children." He added coldly "One more smart-ass remark, and I'll kill you whether he has the money or not!" He snarled "Understood?"

"Y-Yes sir."

Anthony let go of Ben, as his phone rang, Anthony looked down, answered, and shoved it at Ben again. "Tell him if he's here with the cash, the door is open." Anthony told him flatly.

Ben pulled the phone to his ear, body tense, and eyes filled with tears. "Dad?" He questioned.

"I heard, listen bud, I want you to tell him that YOU come out first." Ben turned to Anthony and opened his mouth.

Anthony ripped the phone from Ben's hand, his eyes crossed. "Listen Steve, I could just kill him for what you did to my son's. But I'm not, I'm simply putting you through the fear I felt, and making you PAY." Anthony cocked the gun slowly "Hear that? That's my gun, now you have five minutes to get in my house, or I'm going to blow his brains out across the wall." He added.

The line went dead, and the door swung open almost at once. Steve stepped in, looking straight to Ben, he slowly took his gun out, and set it on the ground. "Figured that would be the first thing out of your mouth." Ben noticed the bag in Steve's hand "I have your money, Anthony, so get the handcuff off of Ben." He added.

This was the first time he had seen Steve in action, and as such the first time in real uniform. The bulletproof vest was new, as was the headset. Ben noted that the way he looked, he almost appeared like a cop in one of the TV shows they watched on Friday nights. "Tom!" Anthony shouted, the man stepped out "Let him free." He added.

Ben was relieved as the handcuffs were removed. Of course, it wasn't so easy, the next moment, Thomas's arm had wrapped around his neck again. Steve mentally cringed, watching the man hurt his son again. "Money first, then your son goes free." Anthony stated slowly.

The bullet fired before Ben even knew what had happened. He was gasping on the ground after Thomas had hit the ground, Anthony had hit the ground too. It didn't take long for Ben to realize the rest of the team was outside, needless to say. Getting to his feet, Ben rushed for Steve when Anthony grabbed firm hold of his ankle, yanking him down. "Stupid move Steven." Anthony noted as he stood "All I wanted was the money." He added.

"Shouldn't have had your goon grab my son." Steve said flatly.

Ben's eyes lit up at the use of the word, with Steve it had always been his kid, or his boy. But Steve had never, never called him his son, at least around others. He hadn't even called him his son around the team yet, just him. Grabbing his gun, Steve aimed for Anthony quickly. "You're not getting a CENT unless Ben comes to me first." Steve noted, Ben felt the man's grip on him tighten "Your friend is the one who kidnapped Ben. He'll go to jail. And you'll get your money." He tried to play coy.

"Oh shut up, you think I believe that?" Anthony scoffed.

Steve took a deep breath slowly, he tossed the money to Anthony's feet. Anthony looked down surprised, grimacing. Steve had a feeling the man was stunned that Steve had really loved Ben enough that he'd pay five grand to get him back. The man stared at the boy, then at Steve, scowling, he let Ben go. "Dad!" Ben rushed forward, not noticing as Anthony lifted his gun at Ben.

"BEN!"

Steve was quick to shove the boy out of the way, the bullet hit his vest, luckily. Steve however, brought his gun up, Anthony was not so lucky. The bullet hit him right in the chest, through the heart. The man collapsed as Steve took a deep breath, thankful that he had a bad aim. Ben had crawled into a corner, completely freaked out, Steve already noticed the small graze that had sliced his arm, but luckily not gone through. "Ben, Ben, it's alright." Steve stated, collecting his son in his arms "It's okay, he hit my vest." He added.

He felt the boy wrap his arms tightly around his neck, clearly horrified and scared. His body trembled underneath Steve's own as HPD rushed inside, Danny among them. "Book 'em Danno." Steve stated, carefully helping Ben to his feet "Someone get a medic, the shot grazed him." He stated, looking at Ben "God, am I glad to see you." He muttered.

"Likewise." Ben replied "I thought you weren't coming for me."

Steve frowned he stroked Ben's cheek gently, and kissed his head. "You're my son, like I told him." Steve muttered "No matter where you are or who has you, I will always find you, and protect you." Steve smiled a bit "I'm just glad you're safe and relatively unhurt." He added quietly, leading him from the house slowly "You did good kid." He added.

"Except when I slugged him in the groin."

Steve smirked as he hugged Ben tightly, glad to have him back, safe and sound. He couldn't even describe how good it felt in fact. He could imagine Danny had felt the same way when he'd held Grace again when she'd been kidnapped. "Never do that again, alright? Not all criminals won't kill you for that." Ben nodded his head "Not that this'll happen again, at least, I hope not." He added.

"My arm hurts." Ben groaned.

"I know, the medics will look you over. They're going to take you to the hospital." Steve explained, Ben nodded a bit "Don't worry, I'll be right behind you, kiddo." He nodded as the paramedics slowly took him towards the ambulance "Listen, can I ride with him? I'm his legal guardian." He added.

"Sure thing, hop in." One nodded.

Steve shot a look at Danny who just nodded and waved him off. Steve carefully climbed into the back of the ambulance, knowing this would calm them both down. Steve had imagined how hard it would be to go through a situation like this many times. But this was even harder than he thought, and that was really saying something. "Dad?" Steve looked down to Ben, who tried to lighten the mood "Next time, I'm not staying in the car." He muttered.

Steve knew it was only a half-joke, but Steve smirked a bit anyway. Even so, he told himself, he was never, ever breaking that rule again. "Yeah, well, you're never going on patrol again. So I don't think you'll have much of a problem." Steve grinned a bit.

His grin fell as he noticed the vacant look of fear still in his foster son's eyes. Steve sighed, he knew he'd definitely have to have a long talk with him about this. If only to calm his fears and make sure that he'd be okay. Because right now, he could only guess what was going through his mind.


	24. Challenges

**CHAPTER 24  
>Challenges<strong>

Ben had slept most of the day, if only because Steve let him. The boy had spent a lot of time in the Hospital, getting stitches, but now he was home. Sleeping soundly in bed without a care int he world. Needless to say, Ben had really missed his bed, even if he had only slept on that cot for one night. Ben gave a quiet groan as his eyes slowly opened, it was already four in the afternoon, he noticed, he hated the thought of sleeping most of the day away. His arm and neck were even more sore than he'd thought they'd be, which didn't help much.

Yep, he was _definitely_ glad he would never be going on patrol again.

Making his way down the stairs, he peeked into the den. Steve was on the couch, looking completely beat. Ben had had a horrible experience, but he could only imagine that his Guardian's was worse. Rubbing his stitched arm a bit, Ben slowly made his way into the den. "I was just about to wake you up." Steve didn't even look up as he said that, surprising Ben "Ben, we need to talk about this." He added.

"About what?" Ben asked quietly.

Steve patted the spot on the couch beside him, Ben quickly took it. "My job is very dangerous, you know that." Ben stared at the man, he nodded quietly "I'm sorry to say, chances are... This won't be the last time something like this happens." Ben looked down "I know what you went through was scary, probably moreso than I can imagine." He paused "If you don't want to stay with me because-" He began.

"Don't even." Ben interjected, surprising Steve a bit "That was scary, but I lived on the streets. Compared to some of the crap I saw there, it was nothing." He admitted, even though his voice was shaky "I don't want to leave here, Dad. I sure as hell am NOT going into Foster Care." He shifted a little uneasily "Please don't start suggesting that." He added.

Steve knew that wasn't an option, not even slightly. He loved Ben, more than he'd probably ever be able to put into words. If anything, he'd been worried that Ben would be too scared to live there anymore. "I wasn't saying I wanted you gone. I figured you might be scared out of wanting to live here is all." Steve muttered, he stroked his cheek a little, as he normally did "You scared me, Ben. Big time." He added.

"It wasn't my fault." Ben said timidly.

"I know, didn't make me any less scared." Steve looked Ben in the eyes, knowing this was a talk they had to have "I want you to promise me something. Next time, don't stick around when someone suspicious comes at you." Ben shifted a bit, looking at him "I don't care who they are, or where you are. You run clear in the other direction." He paused "There are too many people who would love to hurt you to get to me for us to risk it." He explained.

"I take it you've made A LOT of people angry." Ben smirked.

"Oh you have no idea. Remind me to tell you the story about the man I hung off a roof." Ben had to laugh at that one "You kinda have a badass for a Dad." Steve smirked.

"And a humble one at that." Ben snorted.

Steve rolled his eyes, but stood up slowly, he looked over at Ben with a small smile. "Don't forget handsome." He teased gently, Ben rolled his eyes again, Steve simply smiled "And more importantly, never going to let that happen again." He stated, very seriously "Just one question though... I really have to know." Ben knew just by the look on his face that Danny wouldn't approve of what he was about to say "Did you really punch that guy in the groin?" Ben nodded his head "Don't tell Danny I said this but..." He winked a bit "Atta boy." He told him.

"Thought you said not to do it?" Ben cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't but still, kid after my own heart right there." Ben smirked at his Guardian slightly "But just find a way that won't piss them off if it happens again, alright?" Ben nodded his head a bit "You're a smart kid, you'll figure out better ways." He added.

Ben smiled a little wider, feeling a bit of pride that Steve thought of him as smart. He could feel himself blush a bit. He'd never been complimented as much as he was around Steve, and it made him feel good. "Now I hope that sleeping gave you an appetite. Because I'm cooking tonight." Ben grinned, Steve was a surprisingly good cook, a great one, actually "How does a little steak sound?" He asked.

"Medium rare please!" Ben piped up.

"As if I didn't know." Steve replied teasingly.

Steve looked up as Ben turned on a different show with a small sigh of relief. Ben was probably going to have nightmares about the experience, but at least he was going to be okay. Bringing out the steak from his fridge, Steve set out towards the backyard, and his barbecue. He definitely knew that a big, good meal at home was just what they needed. So long as nothing went wrong in the next twenty-four hours, everything would be fine.

Of course, something had to go wrong.

...

When Steve had woken up to Ben vomiting, he had at first hoped, prayed it was food poisoning. Not that it was any better, but between that and Ben being ill, he'd definitely take food poisoning. Giving him some vitamins, and sending him off to bed, Steve had thought that to be the end of it. But as he moved inside the room to wake Ben up, he found the boy already awake, keeled over the toilet in his bathroom. "Ben?" The boy looked up "Kiddo, are you still feeling sick?" He asked.

"My throat and stomach are burning." Ben whined quietly.

Steve sighed, just one day without something going wrong, that's all he wanted. "Sounds like strep throat to me." Steve stated quietly, stepping inside, and helping Ben to his feet "I'll give Gabrielle a call, though. I'm sure she'll take a house call." He noted.

"Who's that?" Ben asked as Steve moved him onto his bed.

Steve took a seat on the bed, and slowly placed a hand on Ben's shoulder. Of course, he was burning up, Steve groaned, cursing under his breath. "She's Danno's girlfriend, a doctor." He noted as he took out his cell phone and began to dial her number "She should be awake by now." He added.

"Uncle Danno has a girlfriend?" Ben asked, Steve turned and nodded "Funny, I thought he and Kono had a thing going." Ben stated, his voice growing hoarse.

Steve gently put a hand on Ben's mouth, hoping to quiet him. "They're too stubborn to admit it if they do." Steve chuckled, Ben nodded a bit "But you need to rest your voice, bud. It needs the rest." He let go of Ben's mouth, and the boy nodded "I'll call in and let Danno know I'm not coming in today." He added.

"Dad-"

"Don't, you're my son, and you come first." Steve told him, sternly "I've hardly missed three days of work since I started out at Five-0. I think I can take one day off to take care of you." He noted, leaning forward, he kissed his forehead gently "If you need anything, I'll be in the hallway. I'll get you some soup, I'd try salt water to gargle first... But if you're vomiting that's a bad idea right now." He told him calmly.

Ben groaned, it was his first time being sick while living with Steve and he felt bad. Sure he couldn't help that the last few days he'd been a trouble magnet apparently, but he still felt bad. Steve on the other hand, was more than concerned. He didn't like it when his sister got sick when they were kids, and it was even worse to see Ben hunched over the toilet like that. "Hey Danno, I can't come into work today. Guess who got sick?" Steve said quietly "No I haven't called Gabrielle yet, I figured-" He began "Okay, okay. I'm hanging up now." He added.

Danny had hung up before Steve knew what had happened. He knew Danny would chastise him, but not over the fact he'd called into work first, rather than calling the doctor. Quickly he got on the phone with Gabrielle, who had simply said that she was on her way. She was at the home within twenty minutes, quickly making her way to Ben's room. "You've had quite the week haven't you?" The brunette doctor teased, Ben looked up at her "Hello, Ben. I'm Dr. Asano, it's nice to meet you." She added.

"Likewise."

"Alright, so show me where it hurts..." Gabrielle wasted no time getting down to business, as Ben showed where it hurt slowly "Alright then." Gabrielle slowly felt around the neck slowly "Oh yeah, he's swelled up." She brought out a pocket light, and nodded "Open up and say "ahhhh"." She added, Ben did what he was told and she sighed "Looks like strep throat, kiddo." She added.

"That's all you need to tell?" Ben asked, amazed.

"I'm good at what I do, Ben." She smiled, writing out a prescription on a piece of paper "Trust me, a strep throat is easier to spot than you think. You're probably going to be sore for a few days. Stay in bed as much as possible. Get A LOT of rest." Ben nodded a bit "Now... As nice as it was to meet you, kiddo. I have to get to work." She stood up, and walked over, handing Steve the paper "Make sure to take that to the CVS down the road in three hours. Call me if he doesn't get better in a few days." She added.

As Gabrielle left, Ben smirked a bit, looking over at Steve. "Now I see why Danno likes her." Ben chuckled, noticing how to the point she seemed to be.

Steve only smirked a bit, he nodded a little, and took a deep breath. "I'm off to grab you some soup. You heard the woman, take it easy." Steve stated, knowing Ben could be restless "I'll be here if you need anything." He added, as he exited the room.

Something told Ben this was just the start of one _long _week.


	25. Social Workers and Sick Days

**CHAPTER 25  
>Social Workers and Sick Days<strong>

Ben felt drugged from all the soup, cough syrup, salt water, and medication he had in the last several hours. He'd spent most of the day before asleep again, and woken up. Though he felt better, he knew that he wasn't leaving the bed still. His stomach was still churning, and he was covered in sweat, he felt better, but not enough that Steve would let him go out. "You're up." Steve announced his presence as he entered "Feeling better today?" He asked, Ben nodded slowly "Good, good." Steve sighed in relief.

"Are you going to work?" Ben asked hoarsely.

"Danny told me that he'd hold down the fort until you're better. We still can't leave you alone." Ben groaned a bit at that "Hey, don't give me trouble for this. Even if Ted weren't out there, I'd be here." Ben looked Steve in the eyes as he slowly placed his hand against his forehead "Your fever's gone down, that's a relief." He sighed , then stood up slowly, his eyes looking down upon Ben "Feeling up to more solid food?" Ben nodded slowly "I'll get some toast for you." He explained.

"I wish you'd stop doting over me and go to work." Ben muttered, Steve rolled his eyes a little bit "I took care of myself when I was sick before." He added.

Steve seated himself on the bed again, running a hand through Ben's mop of hair. Quietly, he told himself that he had to get the boy a haircut when he was feeling better. "Yeah, well. That's because you weren't being properly taken care of." Ben sighed a bit, and Steve smiled a bit "I care abut you way too much than to just blow you off like that." He explained "Wouldn't be much of a Father if I did." He added.

"Yeah, but I bet you're itching to get back out there." Ben told him.

Steve shrugged, it was mostly true, but a part of him didn't want to go out there. Seeing Ben at the mercy of an enemy really had shaken him to his core. And considering Steve had seen a lot worse, that was truly saying something. "After the past few days, I can happily wait a few days." Steve explained, shaking his head "If they really need me, they'll call." He added.

"With me sick, Uncle Danno won't." Ben stated.

"They'd better." Steve muttered.

Ben definitely felt bad, considering he still believed that Steve wanted to get out and back on the job. Steve sighed a bit, exiting the room, and heading downstairs. In a way, he did want to be back on the job, but a the same time, he had said the truth. It wasn't his fault, and he knew it, they could have targeted anyone, but they had to have targeted Ben. Taking a deep breath, he began to make the toast calmly, his face contorted a little as a soft knock on the door came, and he quickly headed for it.

Slowly opening the door, he found a man in a suit, his eyebrow raised a bit. "Mr. McGarrett, my name is Allan Davis of Child Protective Services." Steve sighed a bit "Please, don't be alarmed, I am not here to take Benjamin away. I have heard of the incident, but this was scheduled before that." Steve mentally cursed himself "May I come in?" He asked.

Steve nodded, letting him in slowly, he stared at the man. "Ben's actually sick right now, strep throat." Steve told Allan calmly, the man nodded a bit "So can we do this between the two of us? I don't want him straining his voice." He added.

"Of course, this is typically a meeting for only the two of us anyway." Allan smiled brightly, Steve smiled in relief as he said that "You can relax, this is not so much business as it is a follow-up. Being that custody has officially been awarded to you for legal guardianship." Steve nodded his head slowly, he understood completely "I simply am here to see how things are going, then I will be on my way." He added.

"Well, go right ahead with the questions, I'm just making a light breakfast for him." Steve nodded.

"Well, considering all that's happened, I suppose the first question should be..." Allan paused for a moment, and gave Steve a look straight in the eyes "How are things going between the two of you?" He asked.

Steve smiled, he was happy to answer that question. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. "It's been a bit of a struggle, I'm not going to lie. It seems like this is the neverending week from hell." Steve admitted, his honesty seemingly impressing Allan "But I haven't stopped loving him with every ounce of my heart." He began to butter the toast slowly "He's started to call me Dad recently, so I'm guessing it goes both ways." he then held up a finger "Excuse me one moment." He stated.

Steve left for a moment, returning empty handed, he seated himself at the kitchen table across from Allan. "Alright, how's school going then?" He asked.

"Ben's having trouble making friends. And I pulled him out for a week because of how hard this week has been on him." Steve shook his head a bit "But Ben's doing really good in school, top grades, actually. Three A's on tests in a row." He explained, Allan again gave an impressed look "Of course, Ben still needs a little help now and then, but that's the advantage of my job. We spend a lot of time on paperwork, so I have plenty of time to help." He added.

"And you're a police officer?" Allan asked.

"Yes sir, I head the Five-0 Task Force." Steve nodded his head a bit "I'm also a SEAL." He added.

"Do you plan to continue your Naval activities while you're raising Ben?"

Steve gave the man a look, but shook his head none-the-less. Steve didn't plan to go back on-duty at this point in his life, and Ben was just one of many reasons. "Nah, I take my responsibilities in Five-0 and as a Father too seriously to throw that on top of it." He shrugged his shoulders "My girlfriend, however, is in the Navy. She'll probably be in it for a while." He added.

"Does she live with you, and adopt Ben as well?" Allan asked.

"Not yet, sir. She and Ben met through webcam a few days ago." Steve shook his head "I'm adopting him as a single Father. Catherine will definitely be a Mother figure when she's back home, but I don't think we're ready for marriage yet." He explained, Allan made a note of that "I'm sure, however, if and when we do, Catherine will adopt him as well. We've talked about a kid for a while now." He admitted.

"So you're very serious?" Allan asked.

"Oh yeah, we only started to officially date about three months ago. But we're serious." Steve shook his head "We've known each other for years, but work kept us apart. We finally decided to just give it a shot." He then added "I think it can be guaranteed that though I'll probably wait for a year or so. Catherine is likely to be my wife and Ben's Mother at some point." He added.

"And, if not?" Allan asked.

Steve understood what he meant, the fact that Ben would only have one parent in the house. The man smiled a bit, and looked over at the counter, where a picture of himself, and the team, sat. "See them? That's the rest of my team. Even if Ben doesn't have two parental figures at home. He'll have three more though them." He looked very serious "I'm not raising him alone, even now." He explained.

Allan nodded again, he jotted down a final note and closed the folder. "Well then, it was a pleasure to meet you." Allan stood, holding out a hand, giving Steve a firm handshake "I must say, you have impressed me, Mr. McGarret. Your home is lovely, and you're the most co-operative Guardian I've met." Steve smiled at that "Please, tell Ben to get better for me, and I'll be in touch for the first meeting between the three of us." He explained.

"Just give me two weeks notice." Steve nodded.

Steve watched the man leave and allowed his body to relax. That had been much less difficult than he'd expected. He'd been given advice from Danny to be himself, but even then, he had been nervous. If he'd gotten one man's approval, perhaps it would be just as easy to get the approval needed to adopt Ben. The sound of soft footsteps got his attention and he turned his head. Ben looked extremely nauseated, and was blushing a bright shade of pink. "I couldn't keept it down." Ben muttered, his breath was rancid "My sheets-" He began.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Steve smiled, he walked over and wrapped an arm around him "Let's go get you and the mess cleaned up." He added.

"Don't tell me I have to get more soup?" Ben groaned.

"If it's the only thing you can keep down, you had better believe it." Steve noted, then looked at him "You go get changed, and I'll go switch out your sheets." He nodded.

Steve watched as Ben rushed to his room first. The man almost dreaded what he would find in there, but kept it to himself. He loved Ben, and he had to get used to this. Ben was sick, and he couldn't help it. Steve was slowly learning to be patient, and the more he was, the more he succeeded. Hopefully, that would continue, as he could only imagine what might happen otherwise. "Alright, you can come in!" Ben called as loudly as he could with his voice so hoarse.

Taking a deep breath, Steve quietly noted that he could worry about adoption later. As of right now, all that Steve needed to learn was how to keep his own breakfast down while handling _this _mess.


	26. Back to School

**CHAPTER 26  
>Back To School<strong>

Steve almost didn't want to drop him off for school again when the time finally came. After everything that had happened, leaving Ben alone for several hours was extremely hard. Right now, he had the paranoia of him being abducted, coupled with the bullies just ate away at him. He looked at the last bit of paperwork he had left, and finished it silently, setting it aside. There were still two hours left before Ben had to be picked up, he groaned at the thought, almost wanting to pull him out early. If Danny wouldn't chastise him, he definitely would have.

"Steve." He looked up as Chin's voice sounded out "Ben's here."

"Here for lunch?" Chin nodded at Steve's question "Kid knows when I'm paranoid, send him in."

Chin nodded, and Ben entered within a few moments. He looked to be smiling a bit, but also a little unsettled. "Figured I'd come and keep you company for lunch. I have like forty minutes." Ben shrugged, as if reading Steve's mind "Want to go down for pizza down the block?" He asked.

"Bad idea kiddo, I'm on-duty and you have forty minutes." Steve shook his head "You're welcome to eat lunch here though." He added.

Steve had a feeling Ben had actually come there because he'd yet again had no one to eat lunch with. Ben was starting to come out of his shell, but at the same time, he was sure he was still the "weird" kid in school. "None of those punks wanted to eat with you, huh?" He asked genuinely, Ben looked up, and shook his head "Look bud, if that school isn't working out for you-"

"No, I meant, that isn't the reason." Steve's eyebrows raised "A lot of people were actually... Talking to me today." He admitted "I don't know, it was kinda weird. Everyone was apparently worried about me while I was out of school." He shrugged his shoulders "I just came here because I wanted to." He explained.

Steve smiled, so kids were _finally_ starting to warm up to him. He was glad to hear that, after all, Ben needed more friends outside of the team and Grace to keep him company. "Well I'm glad to hear that, it's about time." Steve chuckled, Ben smiled a little at him "I was really worried I'd have to pull you out of there." He admitted quietly.

"You don't have to worry about me Dad, I dealt with ignorance, a lot." Ben replied, he shrugged his shoulders "If it had gotten too bad I would have stood up for myself." He then added, jokingly "Or dangled one of them off a roof until they stopped being assholes." He added.

Steve rolled his eyes at that, he knew he was dumb for telling Ben that story. If nothing else, because the boy probably could do it and would do it with the right amount of upper body strength. "I should never have told you that story." Steve shook his head as Ben giggled slightly "So, anything new for school?" He asked "Classes going well?" He added.

"Yeah, they're going great." Ben nodded, he paused for a moment "Though there's this one thing happening... I know you can't make it but-"

"Career day?" Ben looked surprised, Steve just smiled "They called us today. I already told them I'll be there, and braving anything happening then, I will be." He replied, Ben's face lit up "Come on, you didn't really think I'd pass up the chance to go to my son's first career day, did you?" Ben shrugged "Give me more credit than that little man." He added.

"I just didn't think it was important enough for you to care." Ben shrugged, voice filled with honesty.

Steve shook his head a little, giving Ben a look. He had hoped that by now, his ward/son would realize that everything to do with him was important to Steve. He liked doing things for and with him, and he definitely wanted to be involved with his school. "Kiddo, have you forgotten I just signed up for PTA a week ago?" Ben grinned a bit "I want to be involved in your school life, whether you want me to or not." He added.

"Sorry, I know, I shouldn't question that." Ben said, his face going a shade of red "I guess it's just still a lot to get used to." He admitted, quietly.

Steve stood up from his desk, and crossed over, roughing up Ben's hair gently. "Get used to it, bud. Because I _am _going, whether you like it or not." Steve grinned a bit "I bet your friends are going to love hearing about the SEALs, and Five-0." He then added with a nod "I have tons of bragging rights there, not to toot my own horn or anything." He added.

"You'll definitely be the most humble legal guardian there, Dad." Ben rolled his eyes a bit.

Finishing off his packed lunch, Ben stood up slowly, tossing it in a trash can. Steve smiled a bit, he set his hand on his shoulder, and squeezed it a little. "Point is, I promise you, I'm going to be there." He kissed the top of the boy's head affectionately "You need to get back to school now, though. Almost time for class, and you shouldn't be late." He added.

"Alright, you're off early today, right?" Ben asked, Steve nodded "Picking me up from school?"

"Of course." Steve nodded "Now go on, I'll see you at two thirty."

Ben nodded, grabbing his backpack and jogging out of the office slowly. Steve shook his head a bit, he was definitely, at some point going to have to get Ben to understand that he cared about him. He knew that he probably knew it, but he wasn't sure that Ben understood the full ramifications of it. Taking a deep breath, he allowed himself to relax a bit, nothing was going to go wrong today, he told himself.

...

That night was the first night that Ben did something that Steve found himself against. At first, he thought he was seeing things when he saw the German Shepherd that followed him inside. But of course, as it shook itself off from the pouring rain outside, and it hit him in the chest, it became clear he wasn't. "Ben, why is there a dog in here?" He questioned.

Ben shook himself off a little, and looked at Steve. The man hadn't expected the boy to come back from hanging out in the yard, in the pouring rain, with a dog. But he had a feeling it wasn't going anywhere either. "I found him trying to get shade under a tree. No tags, or collar." Ben tried to justify his actions slowly, Steve stared at him "As cliche as it sounds... Can I keep him?" He asked.

"Ben, I'd love to say yes to make you happy, but we don't have stuff for a DOG." Steve stated simply "And a dog is a lot of responsibility on top of that." He added "We should call the shelter downtown, see if they can pick him up in the morning." He added.

Ben didn't look like he was going to give up that easily, however. Ben stared at Steve, crossing his arms a little. "Dad... Come on, look at him. He's soaking wet and like... He doesn't look like he's been properly taken care of." Ben then did the one thing Steve was hoping he wouldn't "You know, kinda like me that night?"

Steve frowned, of course, Ben had to play the guilt card. Every kid when they found a stray dog and their mother did. Taking a deep breath, Steve stared at the dog, who simply sat there, wagging his tail. For a stray, the dog was well-behaved, he could give it that much at least. "Ben... Bud, I get it, every kid wants a dog growing up. But I-" He paused briefly, taking a deep breath "We're out so much." He added.

"You could train him to be a police dog! He's the breed you use, right?" Ben suggested "He could be a pet and part of the team at the same time!" He added.

Steve looked at Ben, then at the dog again, if he was this well-behaved all the time, it wouldn't be a bad idea. Taking a deep breath, and crouching down towards the dog, he looked him over. Ben was right, he needed a bath, and some food in him but he didn't appear to be sick or have fleas. "To be fair, we should put up found dog signs first before we keep him." Steve stated, as Ben's eyes lit up "But a dog on the team isn't a half-bad idea. He'd make a good guard dog too." He added.

"So we can keep him?" Ben asked.

"Well... We have to make sure he doesn't already have an owner..." Steve replied.

"But if not, we can keep him?" Ben repeated.

Steve stared at the boy slowly, he really wanted to say no in a way. Animals required a lot of care and matinence, but Steve hated the thought of saying no to Ben about this. Ben rarely, if ever, asked for anything, it wasn't like he was like this about much. "Yes, so long as he doesn't have an owner, he's yours." Steve stated, finally giving in "Got a name for him?" He asked.

"Frisky." Ben replied, smiling a bit "Just seems like a good name for him." He added.

"Frisky? I like it." Steve nodded as he turned his head towards Ben "We need to get him cleaned up though. If the Social Worker coming for that final home inspection tomorrow sees a dirty stray in here." He shook his head "Well, it won't look too good." He chuckled.

Ben nodded his head a bit, standing up, knowing that was true. It was the home inspection, then in another two weeks, the two of them would have final interviews with the Social Worker. Then, of course, all that was left was for them to get their court date. He could only hope that all of it would go well, he needed this home, this family. "Thanks Dad." Ben nodded "I promise I'll take good care of him." He added.

"I know you will, because I'm DEFINITELY not doing all the work." Steve smirked.

He could only hope that the dog would do more good than harm.


	27. A Nightmare Made Real

A/N: Gah, getting so close to the end of this! Just a few chapters left. :( Hopefully you guys like what comes next just as good as the rest, even if we are getting towards the end.

...

**CHAPTER 27  
>A Nightmare Made Real<strong>

It was the night after the final home inspection that their perfect world came falling down. Ben had snuck downstairs that night for a glass of water, Frisky was close behind him, cleaned up, calm, and surprisingly loyal. Ben had just started to head into the den when Steve's words sounded out. "Are you SURE we can't do this sooner?" Ben stopped in his tracks "I mean, Ben is going to take this hard enough as-is, putting it off-" There was a pause "No, I understand... I just hate dragging it out more than it needs to be." He heard.

Ben's heart sunk deep into his chest, his face falling. Of course, as it was Ben, he immediately had only one thought: they hadn't passed. Steve had failed the final inspection and now they were going to send him to a Foster Home. Backing up slowly, making his way up the steps, Ben felt tears fill his eyes. No, no, Ben wasn't going to let that happen, he wasn't going to go through that heartbreak. He wasn't, repeat, _wasn't _going to a Foster Home. Slowly heading back up the stairs so that Steve wouldn't hear him, he snuck his way into his bedroom.

Ben knew he had no choice but to go back to the streets, and thus, he had to pack only what was essential. Starting with clothes, a blanket, a pillow. Ben's hand hit a picture he and Steve had taken of the two of them, after a moment, he settled that into the backpack too. With nothing more left, and no more room to pack, he looked at Frisky. He supposed he wouldn't get to keep him after all. "Frisky, you gotta stay... I bet Steve will take you." Ben muttered, the dog looked at him "Be quiet for me, okay?" He asked quietly.

Ben was careful as he lifted up the window, and climbed out. Though it was a hard climb, he slowly did so, climbing down the pipes, slowly reaching the ground. He knew it was better this way, no hard goodbyes, no tears, he'd leave, and just never look back. Ben quickly made his way towards the wooded area surrounding the home. But never made it two feet, the firm hand that gripped his wrist made Ben's eyes widen, turning his head to come face-to-face with Ted, he felt his stomach tie in a knot.

"Hello Ben." He noted, lunging forward.

It was all Ben could do to let out a loud, ear-piercing _scream_.

...

"Yeah, I know, we'll have to do the interview first." Steve stated calmly, he nodded his head "A court date in May should work great. I just think Ben wanted it a bit sooner, but well-" The scream lifted to his ears, his eyes widened "Look, I have to call you back!" He stated quickly, grabbing his gun off the table and hanging up "BEN!" He screamed.

Rushing up the stairs, and towards Ben's bedroom, he quickly found Frisky, but absolutely no sign of Ben to be found. Finding the window wide open, Steve immediately felt his body breaking into a violent tremble. "Oh God, no, no!" Steve muttered under his breath, rushing back down the stairs and out the front door "BEN!" He screamed out, rushing in the direction of the woods.

Skidding to a halt near the edge of the woods, Steve found Ben's fallen backpack. His hearbeat increased ten-fold, his eyes widening. He didn't need any confirmation, Ted had him and he knew it. Quickly bringing out his phone, his fingers couldn't hit the keys to get ahold of Danny fast enough. "Steven, it's late, what do you want at this hour?" Danny muttered as he answered.

"Ted took Ben." Steve's voice was quiet and full of panic "It looks like he may have tried to run away, and Ted took the opportunity."

He could hear Danny leaping out of bed on the other end, clearly, he was fully awake and alert now. "Steve, calm down bud. I'm on my way, I'll call Chin, and we'll get an Amber Alert out right away." Danny paused "Are you sure Ben didn't just run away, Steve?" He asked.

"Danny I heard him scream bloody murder." Steve said shakily.

Steve could feel his heart rate increasing, knowing that if he went after Ted, it would only end badly for Ben. "Steve, wait for him to call... You know he'll make demands. But don't do anything until I'm there, do you hear me?" Danny tried to calm his partner down slowly "I know you're scared right now, but we can't risk you getting hurt." He added.

Danny hung up, and almost in sequence, the phone rang again. Steve answered quickly, his eyes narrowing in anger. "Ted, if you fucking touch a single hair on his head, I swear to God I'm going to gut you." Steve snarled through clenched teeth "If you want me, you can have me. But let him GO." He added flatly.

Ted's chuckle nearly sent chills rolling up his spine. Steve felt his body tighten further as tears stung his eyes. "Don't worry Steve, Ben's unharmed, for now anyway. I'm not sure how long that'll last though, considering how scared you probably are." Steve wanted to strangle him, needless to say "Now, let's make this clear right now. If so much as one of your men come after me. I'll slit his throat wide open." He the added "This is between you and me, Steve. Not my brother or them, but it could be about my brother if you don't co-operate." He added.

Steve looked down, unsure of how to reply to that, did he give in? Steve almost didn't want to, but what choice did he have? Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. "What do you want with me, Ted?" He gave in quietly "Just tell me what you WANT." He added more viciously.

"Lovely night for a swim, isn't it?" Steve frowned at those words "Hilton Hawaiian Village, the beach, one hour. Or he goes for a little swim."

The line went dead, and Steve slowly hesitated. On any other day, he may have waited for Danny, but this was Ben, this was his son, or would be. He refused to risk anything that might end in his death. Rushing for his truck, he climbed into it, and gunned the engine. _Don't worry Ben, I'm coming. _He thought silently to himself.

...

Ben wanted to struggle, he wanted to fight, but either one would have proved useless. Ted had firm hold of his neck, dragging him down the beach roughly and without remorse. He shoved Ben to the ground roughly, sand filling his mouth as he coughed it out. "You know, bro. You're very. VERY lucky that I haven't killed you yet." Ted shook his head slowly, playing with a gun in his hand "You've turned me in for EVERYTHING. All of it. I feed you, I clothe you, and this is how you repay me?" He asked coldly.

"You didn't do SHIT for me, Ted." Ben snapped right back.

Ted sent a kick to his gut, causing Ben to cry out violently. Ted slowly drew the gun on Ben, for a moment, in his mind, contemplating just killing his brother, ending it. "TED!" Ted turned his head as Steve made his way onto the beach "Let him go Ted." Steve slowly brought up his gun, staring Ted in the eyes "You wanted me Ted, and I'm here." He added slowly.

Ted grinned a bit, stepping forward, and pointing his gun at Steve. Ben, nor Steve had any time to react at what happened next. He fired three bullets, each hitting Steve, one in the gut, one in the chest, and one in the shoulder. Ted grinned a bit as his former mentor collapsed to the ground, the smile on his face spreading. "You really shouldn't have come Steve. You should have seen THAT one coming." He added flatly "At first I thought of tormenting you. But really, I think it's time I just got my revenge." He smirked.

Ted stared Steve in the eyes, bringing up his gun slowly, preparing to fire. Steve turned towards Ben, about to mouth "I'm Sorry". But Ben wasn't there, with a sudden burst of adrenaline, the boy had thrust himself at Ted. Bringing the man down with some force, Ted growled, grabbing hold of his younger brother, and throwing him forward. "B-Ben." Steve spoke out weakly "Run."

"You little shit!" Ted growled, bringing his gun up "Fine? You wanna die first!"

BAM.

Ted recoiled back in shock, staring down at the bullet that had penetrated his own chest. Ben had grabbed Steve's fallen gun, and was standing there, holding it, shakily in his hands. Ted dropped to the ground, shocked, but still breathing. Steve turned to Ben weakly, shaking his head. "Ben, give me the gun, bud. You did good, but give me the gun." Steve held out his hand slowly.

A very shaky, and stunned Ben slowly stepped forward, allowing Steve to take the gun. As Steve has suspected, Ted lifted himself up slowly, looking pissed and bleeding from his wound. Bringing the gun up, he fired a single shot-

Right into Ted's groin.

The man doubled over in a cry of shock and pain, dropping to his knees, and staring at Steve. "Y-You Mother fucker! You missed the head!" Ted screeched, suspecting that had been his intended target.

"No, I hit my target, dead on." Steve replied "That was for Ben." Ted made a futile attempt to bring his gun up again, which was met with a bullet to the head "And that? That was for every other kid you raped you sick bastard." He noted.

They both dropped in unison, with the only difference being that Steve was breathing, Ted was still, dead. "Dad?" Ben slowly moved towards Steve, who groaned in pain "Oh God, you're-" He began seeing the blood seeping through Steve's shirt.

"Ben, get my phone from my pocket, call Danno." Steve choked a bit "It's gonna be okay, bud. Just get him on the phone, get paramedics."

Ben quickly did as he was told, praying that they would arrive in time.

...

A/N: Ah, evil cliffhangers, how I love them. Two chapters left of this. :( Can Steve survive? You'll just have to wait and find out next chapter!


	28. All's Well That Ends Well

A/N: Decided instead of doing two short chapters, I'd just combine the two final chapters into one long final one. :) So this is officially the final chapter!

...

**CHAPTER 28  
>All's Well That Ends Well<strong>

_Beep. Beep_.

Those were the sounds Steve woke up to, his body sore, and very weak, his eyes slowly lifted open. His eyes moved around the room, to the corner, to the monitor, he knew it was a hospital room right away. Turning his head, his eyes finally fell on Ben, who was by his bed, his eyes widening as Steve woke up. "DAD!" He cried out, making his way forward "Dr. Waincroft! Uncle Danno! He's awake!" Ben took hold of Steve's hand his body trembling a bit.

"Ben, it's okay." Steve said hoarsely, squeezing his hand gently "I'm okay, see?" He could see the dried tears in Ben's eyes "I'm alive." He added.

Ben nodded his head a bit, hugging Steve tightly, trembling more. "I thought I had lost you, when you blacked out..." Ben whispered, his voice shaky as he choked out the words "I-I thought-" He whispered.

Steve slowly moved his head enough to kiss Ben on the side of the head. "Hey, what did I tell you? I'll never leave you, Ben." Steve smiled, and gently pushed him away "Even a few bullets aren't going to stop me." He noted, groaning quietly as he sat up "What about you, are you okay?" He asked quietly.

"A few bruises, scrapes." Danny responded for Ben as he entered the room "Nothing near as bad as you." He added.

Steve smirked a bit, knowing Danny had been freaked out too just by the look on his face. Steve hated seeing that look of worry on either Danny or Ben's face, but he knew it hadn't been on purpose. "It's going to take a lot more than that to kill me and you know it." Steve told his partner bluntly "Get that look off your face, Danno. I'm not on my death bed here." He added.

"It could have been." Danny grunted "What the HELL were you thinking out there?"

"I was thinking Ben was in danger, and I didn't want to risk him getting hurt." Steve replied flatly "I seem to remember you almost killed a guy while trying to save Grace. So you're not exactly one to talk." Danny shot a glare his way "We do crazy things to protect our kids." He added, being honest about it, he turned to Ben "Speaking of which, you and I need to talk." He added.

"When you're feeling better." Ben muttered.

"No, when Danno is done scolding me." Steve replied firmly.

"I'll just find the good doctor while you two talk." Danny muttered, getting the idea.

Ben watched as Danny made his way out of the room, leaving Ben and Steve. "Alright Ben, you want to tell me what happened?" Ben shifted uncomfortably at that, to which Steve simply frowned "Ben, bud, talk to me. I know you ran away, so tell me why." He added quietly.

Ben looked away slowly, but felt a tight squeeze on his hand. He knew he wasn't going anywhere, Steve was going to find out, one way or another. Taking a deep breath, and looking the man in the eyes, he sighed. "I heard you on the phone. I thought... You were talking about sending me to a Foster Home." Ben said quietly, Steve frowned at him "So I ran away, because I-" He began.

"Ben, the reason I said you might be upset." Steve paused, knowing this was the reason "Was because the court date is further away then we thought it would be." He was very quiet, and comforting as he said this "We passed bud, with flying colors. And we already have a court date in May." He shook his head.

Ben felt the color flush from his face at this, needless to say, he was embarrassed. Steve smiled a bit, he put his hand to his cheek, and smiled. "Ben, don't feel embarrassed, we all make mistakes." He told him quietly "What matters is that we both ended up okay." He added.

"You could have died." Ben muttered.

"But I didn't." Steve reassured him, Ben smiled a bit "You're grounded for doing that to me though. One day, today. You're going to stay with Danno. And you're going straight to bed." Ben frowned, but nodded, agreeing that it was fair "You feeling okay?" Steve asked, knowing Ben had just shot a man, and that was probably hard, especially as it was his brother.

"I'm managing." Ben muttered "Now that you're okay." He added.

As Chin's wife, the doctor, entered the room, Steve looked Ben in the eyes, and kissed his forehead. "Go have Danno take you home, Ben. It's late." He noted that the clock read twelve in the morning "I'll be out before you know it." He added, then whispered "I love you." He added.

"I love you too." Ben smiled.

As Ben left, he and Steve both took a deep, inward breath. Steve in particular, rested his head against his pillow, relaxed. After all this time, Ted was dead, and he could finally sleep knowing their lives were finally going to be a little less eventful. Or at least, as uneventful as the life of the Five-0 team could be.

...

Benjamin David McGarrett checked his watch a third time, sighing a bit. Career Day was that day, and Steve was late, worrying him greatly. As much as he trusted his now adoptive Father, he understood that he was a busy man. Yet, he feared not having a parent present, the ridicule of when he had been an inform flooding his memories. "Ben?" Ben's head shot up "Is your Father here?" His teacher asked.

Ben turned, looking for any sign of Steve or Catherine, who had recently arrived home. She'd arrived just in time for the court hearing, and had quickly worked her way into his life. Ben liked her, but he was still getting used to her, just as he once had to with Steve. Turning his head back to his teacher calmly. "No m'am, he's probably-" He began to speak.

The door swung open moments later to reveal Steve in the doorway. Beaten, battered, and looking like he'd just been through World War III, but there. "I am SO sorry I'm late." He announced, sore all over, and definitely showing it "I just got done chasing down a diamond thief. And boy could she run." He chuckled a bit, he turned to Ben with a wink.

Every kid in the homeroom looked at him with amazement, then back at Ben. Ben's face went a tomato red, almost feeling a little embarrassed with all the eyes on him. Yet, he was happy to see that his Father had made it, yes he had doubted it, but he now wondered why he had. "Well, Lt. Commander McGarrett, you are next." The teacher nodded "So please, give him a round of applause." He grinned.

Steve immediately made his way to the front of the class, accepting the applause with a smile and a nod. "So, as you all know, I'm Ben's Dad." Steve nodded, at the gawking of a few girls, he grinned "And ladies, just because Ben's adopted doesn't mean I'm that young. I'm still old enough to be most of your Fathers." He chuckled a bit "So, who here actually knows about Five-0?" Nearly all the hands shot up "Good, good, that will make this easy, then." He added.

Ben watched as his Father began to discuss the in's and out's of Hawaii Five-0. He couldn't help but smile a bit, proud of his Father, he'd been beat up it looked like, yet he'd still come. "So, to wrap this up. If you're looking for a career in either of my fields. My best advice. Get a good medical plan." Ben burst out into laugher along with the others, Ben heard his phone beep, and a sigh as Steve checked his text "And that's my heads up that I have to go. But I'd like to thank you all for having me." He added.

An applause broke out yet again as Steve made his way towards Ben's seat. Pulling him into a one armed hug, he smiled. "I'll see you after school, kiddo. Cath is picking you up again." Ben nodded his head a bit "Have a good day." He added.

"Thanks Dad, go get 'em for me." He winked a bit.

Steve left just as the bell that dismissed them from class rang out. Ben stood slowly, but was stopped from leaving by Amber Dylan, one of the most popular girls in school. "So, that was your Dad, huh?" She asked, flirtatiously, Ben could only nod "That's pretty awesome, being the son of the leader of Five-0." She added.

Ben looked at the floor a bit, blushing a little, he stared at her calmly. "Yeah, I guess it is pretty cool." He said, humbly "He saved my life, twice, you know." Her ears perked up at that "Maybe, I can tell you about it sometime." He suggested.

Amber smiled, took out a piece of paper, and wrote something down, folding it up, and handing it to Ben. "Call me, maybe sometime over dinner you can." Amber smiled brightly as she left the class.

Ben wasn't sure how to react to that, but did catch Steve near the doorway. He smiled at him, with a thumbs up of pure approval. Ben smirked and gave a thumbs up back as Steve left. Catching up with his friends, Ben happily showed off the number he had just gotten. Steve watched from afar, smiling, more than happy. He knew Ben had a dark past, one that would always haunt him, one that Steve would always have to help him through.

But one thing was certain, and that was that he had a bright _future _ahead of him. One he was more than proud to know he'd be a part of.

...

A/N: And so ends "The Unexpected"! I hope you all enjoyed it. :) I want to thank EVERYONE who read/reviewed/favorited/alerted this story. :) You all have been so kind and have kept me going on this extremely fun story! :D


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